Beneath the ice
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Rin hates Angelic Layer, though nobody knows why. But when a mysterious stranger models an Angel after her, Rin is forced to create an Angel to fight him. But what other things will she discover about Angelic Layer and herself?
1. Girl of Ice

Disclaimer: I do not own Angelic Layer.

Hey readers! Welcome to my first AL story! Just to say this is Rated T for language and some sexual innuendo later on.

Enjoy!

* * *

Rin Furishine sighed to herself, annoyed, flicking a strand of her hair out of her face. Her second class off the day was about to start, and already she was bored. She stared disinterestedly out of the window, tapping her bitten fingernails on the surface of the desk.

A group of girls and some boys were all standing or sitting around a clump of the scratched wooden desks, talking excitedly. Rin didn't join them, because she knew what they were talking about.

"It's so cool-"

"Defeated with one punch!"

"Wish I had one-"

"Genius tactic!"

Rin groaned and threw her head backwards, staring at the plain, grimy ceiling. Rin wished her stupid classmates would just shut up about Angelic Layer, but it was all they ever seemed to talk about, like a bunch of sheep.

"I heard she's got ninety different angels-"

Rin groaned even more loudly and said,

"Do you guys ever talk about anything else?"

That got some attention. The people who were standing turned and stared at Rin with mixes of surprise, curiosity and indignation. Rin usually made a point of not talking to the people in her class: They thought she was a freak, she thought they were a bunch of idiots. Fair trade, considering that both of these immature judgements were true.

"Do you always have to be so bitchy?" one boy with messy brown hair asked.

"Yeah, what's your problem, exactly?" another put in.

Rin sighed and sat up straight, staring her famous deadpan stare at her classmates, who were all now looking at her.

"What's so great about Angelic Layer?" Rin asked, raising her eyebrows, "It's a completely pointless! At least with other sport it's humans actually doing it, but all it is are little plastic models running around. God, it's not like they're real things! A chimpanzee could figure out how to do play it."

"Angels aren't made of plastic!" a girl with her hair twisted into a topknot exclaimed, annoyed.

"I'm not the slightest bit interested in what they're made of," Rin snorted, folding her arms behind her head, now pushing the chair up with her feet so that it balanced on two legs, making an unpleasant scraping noise against the floor and stood up, letting it fall back with a bang.

The group winced, collectively, and Rin's limited patience wore thin with this simultaneous gesture. Grabbing her bag, Rin swung it over her shoulder and headed for the faded green door.

"Hey...where are you going?" asked the brown-haired boy.

"You can tell Miss Chiemi I feel sick." Rin responded, gliding out of the classroom and slamming the door behind her.

Rin walked quickly down the silent corridor, floor gleaming with polish. Her footsteps suddenly seemed to be very loud, making scraping noises on the floor. Rin didn't hesitate: she stretched out her hands and pushed the doors open, running away and out of sight.

* * *

Rin stopped running when she reached the outskirts of the area, pausing near the big shopping centre. She paused, leaning over to get rid of the stitch in her side, panting. She considered grabbing her inhaler, but thought against it.

A few people gave her strange looks as they passed her, which Rin tried to ignore.

Rin generally didn't care about being stylish or neat, which was maybe why her appearance was so outlandish. That or it was the enjoyment she got from shocking people. The most noticeable thing about Rin was her hair. She had coal black hair, with a few purplish-pink parts at the ends, dyed in, so it looked like she'd dipped her hair in paint. But it wasn't the colour that was most strange, it was the length.

On one side of Rin's hair, her hair skimmed her elbow like a shiny black waterfall. But on the other side of her head, the hair was short and spiky, hanging in uneven strands, barely reaching her neck, let alone the elbows. It looked like she'd hacked at it with nail scissors, which she probably had. She presumably left the long piece hanging because she couldn't reach it, or gave up trying to.

Her clothes were equally as wild and mismatched, too, although when she was wearing her creased school uniform, she had tried to be as inventive as possible.

Her skirt was the shortest she could manage it without looking like she was wearing a strip. Safety pins, ribbon and even a badge or two were clipped or stitched all over it. Her tie was black and pink striped, definitely not regulation. As for her shoes, she had long ago ditched the ones everyone else wore and chose to wear the combination of boots and fishnets.

Rin had a compact body, although she wasn't especially fond of it. Typically she was pale and her eyes were dark green, old eyeliner smudged beneath them. Once upon a time, they used to glimmer with a mischievous energy.

They didn't anymore.

Rin sighed, the stitch fading. She wondered what to do now. She certainly wasn't going to go back to school, but she couldn't go home, either. So she decided to head into the shopping centre.

She didn't have a lot, but she had enough just to buy something cheap to amuse herself. Rin stood on the escalator, biting her fingernails, which proved difficult as they were already bitten down to the edges of her fingers as it was.

Rin wasn't really bothered about where she went, so she ended up wandering into one of those big department stores that seem to sell everything. She let her feet take her to wherever they wanted, almost in a daze, until she ended up in a strange part of the store. It looked like it was a toy section, but Rin couldn't be sure what it was.

"Hmm?" Rin mumbled, searching through the boxes, frowning, curiosity getting the better of her.

Then she spotted something that was so strange she dropped everything that she was doing and walked over to look at it. On the self, there were eggs, and inside each egg was a small model. She recognised them from somewhere. Picking up the box and peering at it, Rin saw the model even had the beginnings of a face set on its tiny head. She titled it, trying to remember where she had seen it.

"You seem to be very interested in these."

Rin felt a jolt at the voice and turned to see a man standing behind her. He was wearing a lab coat and had spiky black hair.

"What _are _they, anyway?" Rin asked, despite herself, poking one of the eggs. "What is that in them?"

"Those are Angel Eggs, of course!" The man replied, as if this was obvious.

Rin scowled at the incredulity in his voice. That suddenly it dawned on her and she suddenly froze, her face stiffening.

"You mean...this is…Angelic Layer?!" Rin cried, disgusted.

"Well yes," the man responded, startled, "What's the problem?"

"I HATE Angelic Layer!" Rin shouted, clamping her hands over her ears as if the words burnt her, and she began to speed away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" the man called after her, completely befuddled by this strange reaction.

"I'm going home!" she yelled over her shoulder, without meaning to.

* * *

But when Rin got home, she might as well have been a piece of meat dipped into a tank full of sharks.

"Where have YOU been?"

Rin's mother, Kura shouted this as soon as Rin walked through the door. Rin glared at her mother, who was almost the same height as Rin, about an inch or so shorter. The temptation to say something outrageous, like, "Oh, I was off snorting coke," was so tempting Rin had to bite on her tongue to stop herself. Eventually, however, she realised she was required to answer.

"Out." Rin responded petulantly, knowing that this wasn't going to pacify her mother, but she didn't care.

"Out," Kura repeated, staring at her daughter with unbridled frustration and incredulity. "Rin, why do you insist on doing this? Why did you suddenly decide to walk out of class, AGAIN?"

"Because I _felt_ like it!" Rin replied, angrily.

Rin's younger sister, Yukiko, was peering out of her bedroom, which was visible at the top of the steps. Even from the living-room door, Rin could tell that Yukiko was crying. She hated arguments, which Rin thought odd, considering they seemed to happen daily these days. Yukiko shook her head very slightly, which Rin pretended not to see.

"Just what I need!" Kura declared, raising her hands to the ceiling, "Another one of your episodes! Another act of complete thoughtlessness! Rin, why do you always want to cause trouble for everyone around you? Do you _want _to end up like-"

Rin took a step back, her eyes suddenly looking shocked. Kura suddenly realised what she was about to say, and softened slightly, reaching out,

"Rin-"

"SCREW YOU!" Rin shouted, and pushed past her mother, past Yukiko, who shrank back against the door as she ran past.

Rin, burning with anger, kicked the door open to her room, flopped down on her bed and did not come out of her room for the rest of the day.


	2. Trains, Plans and the secret purchase

Greetings, everybody!

Well, I re-read this a bit ago, and decided my earlier chapters DESPERATELY needed a rewrite, so I've merged chapters two and three, and they are now about twice as long then all of my other ones. XD I intend to fix that, though, don't worry!

Enjoy!

* * *

Rin came downstairs the next morning to a tense atmosphere. Kura who was standing by the microwave glanced over at her eldest daughter as she came thudding down the steps.

Today, Rin's outfit consisted of a pair of jeans that had been torn off at the knee, a tight-ish blue halter-neck, a battered pair of black pumps, and a strange silver clip pinning half of the short side of Rin's hair away from her face, and Rin had a necklace on that looked like a drop of crystallised blood on a black string. Her face was pale over her colourful outfit. Rin sloped downstairs, glancing disinterestedly at Yukiko sitting at the table, an empty bowl of Cornflakes sitting by her elbow. Rin snatched a mango up from the silver fruit bowl, taking a huge bite out of it, orange juice dribbling down her chin.

"'M going out." Rin called, her voice muffled, trying to swallow the piece of fruit.

"Hang on a second, Rin," Kura frowned, as Rin's hand closed around the door handle; "There's something I-"

"You can tell me later." Rin snapped, and shut the door noisily behind her.

She got about as far as the next house, when the door banged open again. Rin was about to quicken her pace, expecting it to be her mother, but then she heard the quick slapping of sandals and knew it was Yukiko, and turned slowly.

"Rin! Wait!" Yukiko called, her pinafore dress flapping slightly as she ran, "You're supposed to walk me to school!"

At this point Yukiko tripped in a dip in the ground, landing on her face. Rin's hand clenched into a fist as though she was trying to restrain herself, which perhaps she was. But she merely stood there as she watched her sister get back up and run to her side. Rin walked briskly ahead, with her sibling trotting by her side, and trying to start conversation. Rin would have preferred it if they just walked in silence and got it over with and eventually the small talk died away. Yukiko faltered, looking sad. Rin gave an impatient sigh and said,

"I'm only going to walk you to the gate. You can walk from there to the school without me, right?"

Yukiko looked up at her older sister.

"Are you skipping school again?"

"Yes." Rin replied defiantly, jerking her head slightly.

"I'll tell," Yukiko said, but with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

She expected Rin's hand to fly out and pinch her arm, give her a Chinese burn or worse. It wasn't that Rin was particularly cruel, just a case of sibling rivalry, but today Rin didn't seem in the right mood, the right mood being a very bad one.

"Go ahead and tell." Rin snorted, tossing her head.

"Mommy will get mad..." Yukiko said, falteringly. Rin shrugged.

"So? She's always mad at something-or-other these days. Big deal."

Yukiko bit her lip nervously, her feet shuffling at the concrete. Rin cast a worried glance at her sister, but refused to say anything. She looked up and saw the school just in view. They reached the gates, which squeaked and were very rusty, painted white, but children had spent time chipping away at the flaky white paint, so it looked like it had been painted a scabby orange.

"I'll be here to pick you up at the end of the day," Rin muttered with a jerk of her head. Yukiko paused; watching her sister walk hurriedly away before one of the teachers caught sight of her. Then she waved,

"Goodbye, sis!"

Rin stopped, her shoulders hunched.

"Bye," she mumbled. Then ran.

* * *

Rin picked up a salty, golden chip, nibbling on the end. She had mooched into the shopping centre again, but this time headed straight to the food court, avoiding the department store completely. She felt slightly guilty about being so horrible to Yukiko, but she was also annoyed, partly at her mother, partly at herself.

When she had finished her lunch, she suddenly spotted a large crowd gathering near the entrance of what looked like a cyber-cafe. Curious, Rin got up and walked up the steps to the fourth floor, grabbing her bag as she went.

As soon as she entered the store, Rin wished that she'd never bothered. Two people were sitting at a table, wearing helmets and in front of them was the Layer with two Angel's battling. But suddenly Rin noticed something, something which made her freeze.

The angel on the left looked exactly like her. The outfit was different, it was the outfit she'd been wearing yesterday, or something similar to it, anyway. And she also recognised the man who was wearing the helmet. He frowned in concentration, apparently not noticing Rin, and mentally commanded the angel to deliver a punch, knocking the opponent out of the Layer.

"And Cho loses!" cried an automated commentator that had apparently been built into the machine, and the two combatants removed their helmets.

The girl who lost picked up her Angel and walked briskly away, her mouth set in a thin line. The crowd then drifted over to some other tables, and the black-haired man removed his helmet, noticing Rin for the first time.

"You!" Rin shouted, as he stood up.

"Ah, you're that girl from yesterday." He said, putting the helmet slowly back on the table.

"Cut the crap." Rin snarled, pointing one bitten finger accusingly at the Angel the man was holding as if it had done something to personally insult her, "What the hell are you playing at? Are you trying to stalk me or something?"

The man had a half-smile, half-smirk on his face.

"Oh, you mean this. Well, after your outburst yesterday, I became inspired to make an Angel out of you." he said, and he was also teasing now.

Rin loathed being laughed at.

"Oh, yeah, right." Rin growled, a hint of sarcasm edging into her outraged voice, like ice slowly freezing the edges of water, "I know what you're trying to do, I'm not STUPID. You're trying to use this..._ Thing _to make me get into this whole Angelic Layer stuff. It's disgusting"

The man was definitely smirking now.

"Well, you're certainly showing an interest, aren't you?

Rin had never been especially good at controlling her temper. And at those words, something inside her snapped. She clenched her fists, drew her head back slightly and spat directly into his face, on the left cheek.

"I'll show you. Just you wait." Rin hissed, and fled, looking like a blue blur as she legged it as fast as she could go down the stairs, ignoring the puzzled stares from the people riding the escalators.

When Rin reached the first floor, she slumped down against the floor, panting. She fumbled in her pockets, pulling out an inhaler, taking a few puffs from it. When she felt less dizzy, she put it away and stood up, walking towards the exit, when suddenly she felt an arm grab her tightly on the upper left arm.

"Now just wait a second, young lady," the black-haired guy said, and he seemed pretty pissed off.

Rin, who felt quite scared for a second, suddenly knew what to do, threw back her head and screamed,

"HELP! HELP! I'm being kidnapped!"

Before the stranger could say a word, a burly man dressed in black grabbed onto his shoulder. Rin had timed her scream perfectly.

"What do you think you're doing, buddy?" he boomed, threateningly.

"Help me, please! He's trying to abduct me!" Rin wailed pathetically. It worked like a charm.

"Come with me, buddy." the security guard grinned sadistically, dragging the black-haired man with him, who was loudly protesting.

Rin sniggered and quickly ran through the automatic doors before the Security guard found out the truth.

* * *

Rin was still smirking to herself when she came up to the path at school, where Yukiko was waiting.

"Rin!"

"Come on." Rin said, gesturing for Yukiko to follow her.

Yukiko trotted along at Rin's right. They walked quietly together for a while, and then Yukiko spoke up, sensing her sister's less hostile mood,

"Rin... Rin, why can't things go back to the way they were?"

Rin stopped, staring at Yukiko.

"What do you mean?"

Yukiko paused, kicking at the pavement, the tip of her shiny black shoes going slightly brown. Then she mumbled,

"Well...we all used to be happy, didn't we? And mommy wasn't mad back then. And you-"

"I wasn't a bitch." Rin filled in for her.

Yukiko giggled at the word, but it came out high-pitched and desperate. Rin didn't even smile, and Yukiko's anxious expression returned.

"Rin...Rin, do you think that Mommy will make Daddy go away?"

"YOUR Dad." Rin corrected, her eyes clouding over with anger, her voice sounding hollow. "I don't have a dad. Not anymore."

Yukiko looked down. Rin sighed. Although Rin would sooner sell her entire collection of fishnet tights then admit it, she liked it better when her little sister was happy, and realising with a pang that she hadn't done very much over the past few weeks or so to make Yukiko happy.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Rin said, doing her best to sound like she meant it, "I bet she'll make up with him soon. She always does."

Rin privately knew that this wasn't true, but Yukiko looked a little more cheerful. They had almost reached the house now.

"Hey, Yukiko." Rin said, as Yukiko started up the path. Yukiko turned,

"Hmm?"

"Did Mom say whatever it was she wanted to say to you this morning?"

Yukiko shook her head, slowly,

"No, Mommy said she wanted to tell both of us at once."

"Better go find out what it is, then." Rin mumbled reluctantly, following Yukiko who was skipping lightly up the path.

When they got in, Kura was facing away from them, talking into the phone and leaning on the counter by the window.

"Mom? We're home." Rin sighed, dropping her bag on the floor. Kura hung up, turning around and looking mildly surprised to see Rin and Yukiko. She glanced at Rin,

"You could have waited, Rin." she said irritably. Rin raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah yeah. So what was it you wanted to tell us?"

Kura hesitated. Yukiko shuffled away from the door and sat down at the table, looking expectantly at Kura. Rin leant against the doorframe, looking bored. Eventually, Kura said. Hesitantly,

"It's just that... Well... We're moving."

* * *

"WHAT?" Rin and Yukiko shouted together, which was unusual in itself because for once Rin and Yukiko were agreeing with each other over something.

They both looked at their mother, and Kura looked a bit caged suddenly. Shifty, even. Yukiko stared at her parent with a mildly puzzled expression on her face. Rin, however, suddenly looked a bit suspicious, and folded her arms. Kura took a deep breath, her eyes not looking at either Rin or Yukiko, but staring instead at the ceiling and said, very slowly,

"Well, when I say 'we' I...I mean you and Yukiko. Not me."

Both girls stared at their parent, the news apparently not have just sunk in. It was suddenly very quiet in the kitchen, the only sounds being the clock above the fridge ticking and the kettle boiling. Then Rin broke this silence by demanding,

"So what are you saying? You don't want us anymore?"

This had exactly the effect Rin wanted- Yukiko burst into tears.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kura replied impatiently, stretching out her hand to Yukiko in what she apparently thought was a comforting gesture, but Yukiko wailed and backed away slightly. Kura gave an exasperated sigh,

"Now look. You've upset your sister!"

"So what else is new? And I am not being ridiculous!" Rin said fiercely, "You're the one suddenly throwing this news at us without even asking us or giving us a damn explanation!"

"Rin, stop yelling!"

"Well then answer my question!" Rin shouted.

Kura opened her mouth to reply, when she suddenly noticed a large stream of steam bursting from the spout of the kettle. She rushed over to it, hurriedly flicking the switch and preparing herself a mug of coffee. Rin watched her sourly, both of them temporarily forgetting Yukiko, who was sniffling into the sleeve of Kura's blue work jacket which was draped over one of the chairs. Kura sipped at her coffee, an expression of forced calm on her face, and she put the mug down and faced Rin.

"What with things being... Difficult here at home, I thought that maybe we could do with spending some time apart, so I've decided to send you to Aunt Kata's house for a while."

"Aunt Kata?!" exploded Rin. Kura looked confused for a second, her forehead wrinkling in concentration.

"What's wrong? You both like Aunt Kata, don't you?" she asked, looking at Yukiko, who nodded reluctantly, and wiped at her eye with the sleeve of the jacket.

"That's NOT the point!" Rin groaned exasperatedly, "She lives in Tokyo City. Tokyo! Where the Angelic fucking Layer tournaments-"

"Language!" shouted Kura,

"- are being held!" continued Rin, ignoring the reprimand, "And how long is 'A while' anyway?"

"I don't know." Kura confessed.

Rin felt a stab of impatience, and slapped her hand on the counter, leaning forwards slightly, her necklace hovering over the table, the sharp point sparkling.

"Well, that sounds like an excellent plan," she remarked sarcastically, "Really great. You just _decide _to send your kids off to Kata's house and don't even know how long we're going to be there, and you likely don't even care, either. When are we leaving, or haven't you decided _that _either?"

Kura, who was apparently both angry at Rin and also embarrassed because of Rin's accurate question, she muttered,

"This weekend, actually."

Rin glanced at the calendar, which was taped to the fridge, and noted that is was Tuesday. (It was difficult for Rin to keep track of days because of her constant absences from school.)

"Fantastic." Rin growled, "Well then I'm going to go pack then, since you're so eager to be shot of us, I'll just go save time."

And Rin stalked out of the kitchen, banging her fist against the side of the fridge as she left, and this time Kura followed her, shouting up the stairs as Rin slunk off,

"You know, Rin, I'm getting very sick of your constant shouting and difficult behaviour and moods!"

Rin whipped around, very nearly colliding her elbow with the wooden ball on top of the banisters and shouted,

"Well _I'm_ sick of _yours_!"

Rin slammed the door behind her, stomped over to her beg and pulled out a slightly battered-looking shoulder bag from under it, and started grabbing clothes and stuffing them into the bag, cursing under her breath as she did so. Suddenly Yukiko appeared at the doorway.

"What do you want?" Rin snarled, barely turning around as she picked up a dark green jacket, holding it up and inspecting it.

"Rin, why did you say that stuff about Angelic Layer?" Yukiko asked, holding onto the door. Rin froze.

"What?" she asked, hoarsely. Yukiko shuffled her feet.

"Well, why do you hate Angelic Layer so much? And why did you get mad at Mommy?"

"Get out." Rin croaked, pressing her elbows together as she clutched the jacket.

"But Rin-"

"OUT!" Rin yelled, throwing a shoe at the door.

Yukiko let out a squeal and shot away. Rin kicked the bed, her foot connecting with the wooden frame. She grabbed her foot, swearing. She looked around her room, noting silently that this might be one of the last times she slept in her own bed for a while. And she found that she didn't care.

"The sooner we move, the better." Rin muttered, giving her bed another kick. And though she heard Kura call for dinner and heard Yukiko thudding down the stairs, Rin didn't leave her room for the rest of the evening.

* * *

For the next few days, Rin woke up early, much earlier then Kura or Yukiko, and slipped out, deciding that if she was going to be moving in with her aunt, she needn't bother going to school at all. Yukiko still went, and kept telling all of her friends that she was going to Tokyo City. Kura also seemed to be avoiding them, as she would leave dinner on the table for them, but she would go for a bath while the sisters ate and then eat later by herself. Rin had been listening to her talking to Kata in the evenings before Yukiko's dad came home, and from what Rin could gather, Kura was planning on having Yukiko's dad drive them to Kata's. Rin scoffed privately to herself.

So on Friday, Rin waited for Kura to come downstairs, her arms crossed as she leant against the fridge. When Kura came downstairs, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, she looked surprised to see Rin standing there.

"Rin, why-"

"You have got to be kidding," Rin said, tapping the toe of her boot on the ground, "I am not going to Tokyo with that bastard. It's not happening."

Kura's eyes widened, and she was apparently too surprised to get angry because Rin was insulting Yukiko's dad.

"How-"

"I've been listening each night on the extension phone." Rin replied sharply, not caring if she was getting herself into trouble. "I'd rather insert needles into my spine then breathe the same air as that pig."

Kura sighed, running a hand through her neat brown hair.

"And how else do you expect to get to Kata's?" she replied tersely, "Walk?"

"I'll take the train," Rin replied, tossing her hair.

"The train?" Kura said, with a short laugh. "And do you even know one train from the other? Do you even know where the train station is? I bet you don't actually know if there any train's going to Tokyo! Actually, Rin, do you even know what a train is?"

"You are so funny," Rin remarked acidly.

Kura pushed past her eldest daughter and began to make herself a cup of coffee, with Rin still staring at her. When Kura tried to get some milk out of the fridge, Rin blocked the way.

"Rin, I haven't got time for this." Kura snapped, pushing past her.

"Well as a matter of fact," Rin replied, her hand sliding around the fridge and picking up her bag that she had positioned by the door, "I haven't got time, either. I have a train to catch." and without another word, Rin grabbed the bag and left, shutting the door behind her with a snap.

* * *

In actual fact, Kura had been wrong about Rin's apparent lack of knowledge about trains. Rin actually sometimes went to the station on days when she skipped school and would get on a train at total random and see where it went. A couple of times Kura had had to pick Rin up because Rin hadn't bothered to check if there were any trains coming back, but Rin would just make up stories about what she was doing there. Kura hadn't always believed her, naturally, but Rin didn't care about getting grounded, really.

Rin walked through the station, glancing around every now and then as if she expected someone she knew to suddenly pop up and drag her back home.

When the train stopped, Rin stepped out onto the platform, staring. It was noisy, crowded and busy. Rin looked up and saw large skyscrapers, poking up behind the station roof. She hurried outside, marvelling at the city, which looked huge compared to the shopping centre where she lived. Rin checked her purse, feeling a secret guilty thrill. Kura hadn't asked her how she was going to pay for a train into Tokyo, and Rin had 'borrowed' the money from Kura, though she expected that Kura would find out eventually.

Rin could dimly see a clock through one of the lower windows of the nearest skyscraper. It read about 2:15.

Rin was surprised; She hadn't expected her journey to be as fast as that. She figured that her Aunt Kata wouldn't be home for at least another 3 hours or more. Rin knew her Aunt worked in the fashion industry or something like that, and she constantly had catalogues lying around the house. Rin was vaguely aware it had something to do with a special kind of brand of clothes, but she wasn't really sure what.

Rin made up her mind to shop. She didn't have anything better to do, and besides, she was in Tokyo!

"That's what you're supposed to do in Tokyo." Rin blurted out.

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," a man in a business suit said as he walked past her. Rin ignored him.

* * *

Aunt Kata had only been home for a short time when the doorbell had rang, and she had been surprised when she'd opened the door to find her oldest niece standing on the doorstep with a lot of shopping bags, and a tired but triumphant expression.

Rin was currently looking inside the fridge, examining the contents. Aunt Kata had told Rin to go ahead and explore the house while she called her sister.

"Guess what, Kura?" Kata said casually as Rin closed the door, holding a jar of pickles and mouthing if she could have one. Kata nodded and then turned back to the phone, "Your impulsive daughter has just turned up at my house."

Kata held the phone away from her ear as her sister-in-law shrieked. She rolled her eyes and said,

"No, it's fine, honestly. It's probably a good idea to let Rin settle before Yukiko shows up. What? No, she's fine. Yes, she did go out dressed like that. No. Yeah. No. Okay then. I'll call you later."

"Shay, Aunt Kahtah." Rin mumbled, her mouth full of chewed pickle, "Are you sure this is okay?" She swallowed. "I have kinda just burst in out of the blue."

"Don't worry about it." Kata shrugged, sitting down on the black leather sofa, "It's better this way anyhow. You can pick a room before your sister gets here, and we get some time to ourselves. Besides, it's not like I could send you back anyway," she clapped her hands. "So so, what did you buy?"

Rin, grinning slightly, showed her most of what she bought, which consisted of a few T-shirts, a C.D, a game disk and a magazine.

"Well, that's not bad!" declared Aunt Kata, examining the T-shirts. Rin nodded, stretched and then asked, casually,

"Say, Aunt Kata, is it okay if I go unpack my stuff and then take a bath? I'm sorta tired."

Aunt Kata nodded, her coal black hair, so like her niece's, swayed as she quickly put the T-shirts back into the crackly red shopping bag.

"You would be tired after doing all of that!" Kata exclaimed, gesturing at the bags. "The bathroom's first door on the left. You can pick whichever spare room you want."

"Thanks," Rin muttered, and grabbed her bags, making a lot of noise with the rustling and crackling of the bags and with her thudding feet.

Rin glanced in both spare rooms and picked the biggest one. It was pretty ordinary, but it had a computer and a circular bed, which she privately suspected, had been put in there on purpose. Yukiko wasn't exactly a computer genius. Rin dropped her bags on the floor, and then she paused and tugged something out of one of the bags, the only thing that Aunt Kata hadn't seen. The bag was mint-green, and had a picture of an egg with wings on the front.

"So." Rin said, pulling out the contents of the little green bag, "This is an Angel Egg, huh?"


	3. The bet

Hey everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late with this chapter, but I've made it longer for your wait.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Huh? I've gotta open this thing in the bath?" Rin said, reading the tiny label, "That's weird."

Rin grabbed the egg and stuffed it carelessly under her arm, and padded into the bathroom, putting the egg in the sink as she pulled her T-shirt over her head. She leant over and turned the taps on, pouring liberal amounts of bubble bath into the water, staining it a slight blue. She unbuckled her jeans and slipped into the bath, wincing as the hot water stung slightly at her legs. She muttered something under her breath, and then grabbed the egg and lowered it carefully into the water. Rin opened the egg, an expression of anticipation lingering in her eyes. She picked the angel up, examining it and prodding it with her finger.

"I knew it was just a model," Rin muttered, sounding almost disappointed.

Later when Rin got out of the bath, she pulled the little leaflet out of the box the egg had come in and scanned it disinterestedly.

"' Place wig on the head'," Rin read in a mocking voice, holding her Angel by one leg, "Oh, gee, I would have never thought of that."

Rin tossed the guidebook over her shoulder, and clumsily arranged her Angel into a sitting position while she rummaged around in the bags for hair. Eventually she found the one she wanted and put it on the Angel.

"Now I gotta style it too?" Rin asked, exasperated.

But she grabbed a pair of scissors anyway, and brought them up to the Angel. But Rin hesitated, running a hand through her own hair, feeling the uneven side of her hair, and she suddenly felt depressed. She looked back at the doll, then at the scissors in her hand.

"Don't worry," she muttered, looking at the Angel, "I won't make you look bad."

Rin spent a bit of time working on her Angel, humming to herself as she snipped. She was quite pleased with the result when she was finished- The Angel now had lilac hair, with some of it flicking in a semi-circle so that it covered one of the Angel's eyes and flopped over the shoulder, the rest of the hair hanging normally down her back. The outfit consisted of a stretchy purple leotard, dark blue thigh-length boots with a silver rim and matching elbow-length fingerless gloves. Two long blue strips that were attached to the shoulder's and spiralled down to her feet. There was also a silver band around her head, underneath her hair with a fake sapphire set in the middle.

When she was done, Rin then rescued the guidebook and set up the laptop, setting the Angel down on the desk.

"Weird." Rin said in mild surprise as the two yellow disks created a sort of light cylinder.

She placed the Angel inside and then turned her attention to the computer.

"Speed, Strength, Attack and Defence." she read aloud. "Hmm... Well if I made something lightweight then it would already have an advanced speed without me having to do anything... But what if I made a heavy weight that was fast? Gaaah. How're you supposed to make a decision with these dumb things?!"

Rin was about the slam the laptop shut, but she glanced at her Angel again and sighed, then looked carefully at the screen. After a while of deciding, Rin gave her Angel a focus on Speed and Attack and made it a slightly lighter weight then the default. The height Rin left alone. After she arranged the settings, she pressed with Enter key. A strange hissing sound emitted from the orange cylinder, the violet hair of the Angel suddenly blowing around as thought it was caught in a sudden wind. Then the laptop beeped again.

"'Select a name for your Angel?" Rin repeated blankly. "Oh, come _on_." she looked over at the Angel, "Fine, I'll call you Stupid. Stupid the Angel."

The Angel merely hung there immobilised, but it seemed to pacify Rin, who sat down reluctantly and gazed at the screen with an expression of disinterest.

Eventually she made up her mind and typed in a name. The glow from the amber cylinder suddenly stopped and the Angel fell forwards landing on the desk with a tapping noise. Rin caught her just in time and muttered,

"Let's just see what you can do…Iolanthe."

* * *

The next day, Rin padded downstairs. There was a note was stuck to the fridge, saying, 'Rin: I've gone to work, but I should be home early. You can do what you want for the day, but if you do go out, could you pick up my dry-cleaning? Kata.'

Rin made a huffing noise, but decided she might as well go out. She wanted to go find that annoying man in the lab-coat, and she had a vague idea where he might be. Rin thudded noisily up the stairs, hurtling into her bedroom and grabbing Iolanthe and stuffing her into a small bag. Then Rin went back downstairs and ransacked the cupboard, shoving a handful of cereal into her mouth, then tearing off the address of the dry-cleaners Kata had pinned to the cupboard door. Then Rin set off, a determined glint in her eyes.

The problem was that Rin had completely forgotten where she had been the previous day, and ended up wandering into a park that was quite near Kata's house. Rin stopped running and decided she might as well take her time.

"Not like _I _care or anything." Rin said loudly, glancing around to make sure nobody had heard her. She had been caught talking to herself more then she had liked recently.

She suddenly spotted something white up in one of the blossom trees. At first she thought it was a paper bag, but the "paper bag" leapt up into the air, landing in a wonky fashion a few feet in front of Rin.

"Well, look what the cat ate, chewed and then spat up," Rin sneered as the black-haired man struggled upright.

He sprang up fairly quickly as Rin said this. Rin's foot twitched involuntarily, as if she suddenly wanted to run.

"I can see your tongue is still working after that stunt you pulled in the shopping centre." he commented curtly, brushing dust and petals off his lab-coat.

Rin raised her eyebrows, a scornful look on her face.

"Why wouldn't it be? _You're_ the one who got busted." she sniggered. The lab-coat man made a huffing sound.

"I'm glad _you_ think it's amusing. It took me a long time to get out of the police station, and so I missed a meeting thanks to you."

"Oh, go cry me a river." Rin retorted, folding her arms over her chest, "What are you doin' here then, anyway? Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Shouldn't you be at school?" he shot back.

Rin snorted, though she was secretly beginning to enjoy herself. Arguing with this man gave her a feeling of power, being able to stand up to someone like him.

"Don't go to school. I'm sick."

"You don't look very sick to me."

"Who asked you?" Rin snapped at him, her hands now on her hips, her upper-half tilted forwards slightly, her smirk had vanished now, to be replaced with a cross between indignation and scorn.

The black-haired man chose (wisely) not to respond to this rather immature retort, but instead nodded at the bag Rin had, where her Angel was poking out over the top.

"So, you did get an Angel!" he said, an annoying tone of smug-ness edging his voice. "How interesting."

"Yeah, I got an Angel," Rin replied, walking forwards until she was standing directly in front of the man, "And I challenge you to a fight. With the Angel you made to look like me. Now."

Taken aback, the black-haired man paused, looking almost shocked,

"I can't fight you here!"

"Chicken!" Rin scoffed, raising her eyebrows. The other shook his head impatiently.

"That's not what I mean. Angel's don't work outside the Layer. We can't fight in the middle of the park, there's nothing electrical, no headsets, nothing."

"I didn't mean here," Rin replied coldly. "I'm not an IDIOT, I know that these stupid dolly things can't do anything if they're not on the Layer, but I want to fight and I've only just moved to Tokyo, so YOU gotta show me where to go so I can kick your ass!"

When he hesitated, Rin realised she'd have to push him further then that to convince him to fight her.

"What, are you backing out? Look, when we get there, I'll even sweeten the deal."

Now he looked intrigued, though he was trying to hide it. Rin fought hard not to give anything away on her face, though she was secretly dying to burst out laughing, this was so predictable.

"You're up to something." Lab-coat man concluded. "But I have nothing better to do... alright, let's go then."

* * *

Rin tapped her foot impatiently. The escalators were packed and it was moving very slowly for some reason. The man in the lab-coat glanced at Rin sideways, as if he was expecting her to suddenly jump over the side and run off, or anything just as spontaneous. The man sighed as Rin marched towards the receptionist desk, bending over it slightly to talk to the woman there.

"Impatient wench." sighed the black-haired man, but followed Rin.

"So, did you buy a table?" he asked in a tired voice. Rin turned her head, her eyebrows raised.

"Huh? It was free."

"Free?" repeated Lab-coat, perplexed. Then a chiming sound dinged over the intercom.

"Could table 17 please start their Angelic fight? Thank you!"

"That's us," Rin said, looking over at table 17 where a mildly interested crowd was gathering. "C'mon."

"Hang on a second," Lab-coat said, grabbing onto Rin's arm.

"What?!" Rin asked aggressively, shooting a truly stupendous glare at him, "You want me to get you busted again? Get off!"

Not wanting to repeat that little experience with the security guard, he quickly released Rin's arm, and replied somewhat impatiently,

"You haven't told me what you were going to do to 'sweeten' the match yet."

Rin suddenly understand, and she stood back slightly, her arms crossed again, her expression looking this time genuine instead of smug.

"I'm gonna make a little bet with you. If I win this match, you have to destroy the Me-Angel, tell me who you are AND buy me lunch."

"And if I win?"

"Don't know." Rin shrugged a dash of annoyance in her tone, as though it was his fault she hadn't bothered to consider losing as an option, "Think up something yourself!"

He sighed again as though Rin was being unreasonable. But then he suddenly got a gleam in his eyes and he said,  
"Alright then. If I win, I can keep the Angel, I don't have to tell you who I am and…"

"And what?"

"And…you have to carry on playing Angelic Layer."

Rin glowered at him, but this time Lab-coat didn't flinch. She wondered how he knew she was only planning to fight him with her Angel and then stop, but really she supposed it wasn't that difficult to work out, considering her react when they first met. They had reached the table now.

"Are you ready?" the women in a neat black jacket and skirt asked them, blinking slightly at the strange tension between the two fighters.

"You bet we are." Rin answered, grabbing the helmet.

"Bring it on already!"

* * *

"Angelic fight!" The inbuilt commentator announced. The crowd had bustled around now, watching with anticipation and interest.

"Go, Frost!" shouted the black-haired man, throwing the Rin-Angel into the Layer. She landed neatly; spreading her toes apart, tiny fists clenched.

Rin had a puzzled look on her face, but she threw Iolanthe into the Layer too, but the Angel simply fell onto the Layer, looking a bit undignified as she sprawled there.

"Eh? Why isn't she moving?" Rin shouted, annoyed. The crowd tittered.

"You have to visualise her standing up." Lab-coat explained, sounding a little surprised. Surely she knew that?

Rin fixed her gaze to the Angel, frowning in both irritation and concentration. Iolanthe's left leg twitched, and she slowly got to her feet. Rin's green eyes widened in apparent surprise, but it was only for a fleeting moment. Before the black-haired man could think, the mauve-haired Angel raced at his, her fist raised in a typical punch motion. Frost dodged it, appearing behind Iolanthe.

"You cheating bastard!" Rin shrieked angrily. The crowd laughed again. "Oh, piss off!" Rin snapped at them, briefly glancing over her shoulder, shooting a glare at the audience.

"Pay attention or I'm going to beat you easily!" Lab-coat said impatiently.

Rin gave a snort, and Iolanthe spun around, hooking her foot around Frost's knee and flipping her over so she landed onto the floor.

"Nobody could be me easily." Rin scoffed, a glint appearing in her eyes now.

Iolanthe quickly leapt backwards, getting out of range from Frost. The black-haired Angel sprang up and charged at Iolanthe, her tiny fist clenched, punching Iolanthe across the jaw, knocking her backwards so Iolanthe skidded near the edge of the Layer.

Rin wasn't going to stand for this, so she had Iolanthe run quickly around Frost, who did what Rin expected and turned, Iolanthe doubling back and slamming her head into Frost's neck. Frost crouched, Rin jerked abruptly in her seat, thinking she had somehow managed to hit a tender spot on the Angel, but Frost then spun rapidly around while crouching, one leg lashing out and throwing Iolanthe onto the floor.

For a moment, both Angels stayed there, watching each other with an almost intense expression. Then Iolanthe suddenly pushed herself upright with her left arm alone, jumping back slightly and assuming a defensive stance. Frost got up more slowly, almost teasingly slow. Rin's eyes narrowed slightly, and she briefly directed her vision to Lab-Coat. He was making Frost move slowly for a reason- but what? To put Rin into a false sense of security? To build energy?

Frost suddenly dashed at Iolanthe, briefly surprising Rin, but Iolanthe promptly did a kind of bizarre pirouette, lashing out at Frost with one foot so she skidded back slightly.

"This looks like the crux of the match now!" the commentator bleeped suddenly, snapping Rin out of her almost trance-like concentration, "The time is running out fast- who will win, Iolanthe or Frost?"

Rin glanced up and the timer flashing in digital numbers and saw it was true. Iolanthe and Frost both had the same amount of damage now. Rin knew she had to finish it soon or that Lab-coat would win.

Lab-coat seemed to have the same thing on his mind, and had positioned Frost at the opposite side of the Layer to Iolanthe.

_I have to finish this in the next move._ Rin thought, _I've had enough pissing about._

And then it happened. One second, it seemed Iolanthe and Frost had been standing totally still, the next, they were upon each other. Frost's tiny fist connecting with Iolanthe's forehead, Iolanthe's leg colliding with Frost's stomach. The tiny figures went flying, both landing right next to the edge of the Layer. Rin looked up at the screen and saw both Iolanthe and Frost's damage points drop to zero.

"And it's a tie!" announced the commentator "The red-hot match is finished with a double -KO to both Angels!"

Rin stood up and yanked the helmet off her head, ignoring the strands that got caught in the wing-like appendage on the side of the helmet. Lab-coat stood up more slowly and removed his helmet, placing it back on the table.

"Well, what now?" he asked Rin, who was busy pulling out the bits of hair trapped, "We didn't negotiate on what would happen if there was a tie."

"Guess we meet half-way then, don't we?" Rin grunted irritably, finally putting the headset down. She turned to him, a hand on her hip.

"I still want that Angel destroyed. And I want your name. You don't have to tell me your job or nothin'."

She hesitated.

"And forget lunch." She added, reluctantly.

The man paused here, then he said.

"Fine. I'll get rid of Frost, as long as you continue to play Angelic Layer."

Rin shrugged, a sour look on her face.

"My name is Mi- No. Call me...Professor."

"Professor what?" Rin snapped, angrily, picking up Iolanthe and shoving her back into her bag. The black-haired man considered this for a second. Then,

"Ichirou. Professor Ichirou."

"Whatever." Rin shrugged carelessly, absent-mindedly scratching at a mosquito-bite on her left leg. Ichirou looked annoyed for a second, then said,

"So, who are you?"

"Rin." Rin replied without thinking, the idea of giving him a fake name not occurring to her until after she'd just told him her name.

"Rin...?"

"Rin Furishine." Rin replied, sighing as she said it.

Ichirou shot her a puzzled look, but Rin wasn't looking at him, she was looking at Frost with an annoyed look on her face. Then she glanced at her watch.

"Shit!" Rin yelled, in irritation and surprise. "This stupid match took forever! I was supposed to pick up the Dry-cleaning!"

Without another word or glance at Ichirou, Rin took off, dodging expertly between confused people as she hurried away. Ichirou shook his head, and, smirking slightly, he pocketed Frost and walked away.

* * *

"Ah, hello Rin." Kata greeted her niece later that evening.

Rin was slumped on the squishy leather sofa, idly flicking through the channels, a bag of salty pretzels Rin had nicked out of one of the cupboards balanced on her stomach, crumbs and bits of salt littering the sofa and Rin's top.

The dry cleaning lay on the well-polished mahogany table in the opposite room, which had obviously Rin assumed was either some kind of study or the dining room. A note was pinned to the shiny plastic wrapping with Rin's lazily-applied handwriting which looked like it had been written in eyeliner, telling Kata how much the dry-cleaning cost and adding "I want the change by Friday. Rin."

"Hi," Rin muttered, pausing on a channel where a girl was brandishing a sword, then flicking again. "The dry-cleaning's on the table."

"Did you eat earlier?" Kata asked, walking into the kitchen. Rin glanced over her shoulder as Kata examined the contents of her fridge.

"That depends. What are you making?"

Kata smiled slightly as she pulled a shiny grey frying pan out of the cupboard, apparently looking at her reflection in the mirrored side of it, "Oh, I was thinking about making something healthy. Like maybe tofu-"

"Ergh. In that case, I did eat." Rin interrupted, and went off upstairs, muttering something as she went. Kata smiled to herself, but this time there was sadness in her eyes.

"She really...is just like him."

* * *

"What? You want me to issue an Angel card?" Ogata stared with incredulity at his boss, who seemed to think this was not a ridiculous request.

"Yes, Ogata. You've managed to rush one before, right?"

"Yes but..." Ogata whined, feebly.

He knew he'd already lost the argument, and he didn't wish to worsen Chief Mihara's mood. His eyes still watered when he remembered his last punishment- having to walk around the entire building only in his underwear.

"Besides, the Official Tournament doesn't start until next week." Mihara added, "So you won't have to rush as much. Just have it done before then."

"Yes sir..." Ogata mumbled. Mihara got up and headed for the door, and then paused.

"Oh, Ogata," Ogata looked up just in time to have a black-haired figure thrown at him, hitting him squarely in the forehead, "Re-set that Angel's status and appearance."

"Yes, Chief," mumbled Ogata tearfully, rubbing his forehead.

Leaving his bewildered assistant behind, Mihara exited the room. Ogata gave a sigh, and began to type on his computer, issuing a name. Then an image of a black girl wearing almost painfully contrasting clothes and a scowl flashed up on the screen. Ogata, surprised, glanced at the Angel, and then at the screen, squinting at the name at the bottom,

"Rin Furishine, huh?"

* * *

Although I know Iolanthe is a name that would be pretty hard to say in Japanese, I like it too much to change it now. It was originally going to be Shiori, since they both mean "Violet", but the Angel names are altered a bit in the English Dub, so I'm taking slight liberties with this.

As an extra note, Rin's last name is pronounced, "Fuu-ree-shee-neh."

Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	4. Instant rivals!

"You know, this healthy weirdo-food isn't actually that bad." Rin said, considering, picking another piece of spicy chicken out of her stir fry and swallowing it in one go, grinning slightly at Kata, who smiled.

"Glad you think so."

Kata took a sip of her tea, watching as Rin chugged her can of Diet Coke. Then Kata said,  
"By the way, Rin, do you have any plans for today?"

"Huh?" Rin asked, looking up at Kata, a slight crease in her forehead, "What?"

"You got a letter this morning." her aunt elaborated, pushing a letter toward Rin, "Quite early this morning. But I decided I want to live and didn't wake you up."

"Good choice." Rin muttered, picking up the letter, her eyebrows raised in sceptical curiosity.

Deftly snatching a knife off the counter, she sliced the top of the envelope open carelessly, yanking the letter out and nearly ripping it. Scanning it with green eyes, Rin's expression remained mutual as she read the following words:

_To Rin Furishine,_

_It has come to our attention that you finished an official Angelic Layer match on Saturday at 1:03pm and have since then been registered an Angel Card. This means you eligible for the upcoming Angelic Layer Tournament, beginning on the 25th of May, six days from today. The address is being sent to you. The tournament begins in the afternoon. You should try to arrive for about 11:30._

_Kindest Regards,  
Tokyo Angelic Layer management._

"A tournament, huh?" Rin asked out loud, rolling up the letter and tapping it against her palm. She read the letter again, frowning at the mentioning of an 'Angel Card'.

_It must be that bastard Mihara's doing…_

Kata looked up, her head tilted slightly to one side.

"Tournament? For what?"

"Angelic Layer," Rin replied, nodding to Iolanthe, who was 'sitting' on top of the breadbin, one hand on the floor to stop her tipping over.

Rin wasn't sure why, but she liked to carry Iolanthe around with her. Not in her hand, obviously, because Rin considered that to be just too childish for words, but having her in her bag made Rin feel like she actually had someone to talk to, which was ridiculous because Iolanthe was a machine. But all the same...

"So this must be your Angel…" Kata said softly, examining Iolanthe with interest, softly brushing the lavender hair with her fingers. Rin watched, somewhat puzzled at her aunt's reaction. Then Kata suddenly looked back at Rin, "But I thought you didn't like Angelic Layer."

"I don't," responded the black-haired teenager, picking Iolanthe off the breadbin and stuffing her carefully into her canvas bag, "I still think it's complete over-hyped shit and totally stupid."

Kata looked confused.

"But then...why are you going to the Tournament?"

"I owed somebody a favour." Rin said, a cross between a smile and a smirk on her face. Then she left the room, leaving a bewildered Kata standing foolishly by the breadbin.

* * *

Six days passed, and Rin had bid Kata farewell and set off for the contest. Iolanthe was stowed away in Rin's bag, her head just poking out of the top. Rin had, as usual, dressed as though there had been a powercut that morning. Dark purple shorts, green-and-black knee-length socks, red converse trainers, lime-green tank top, and blue shoulder bag.

She was heading for a bus stop she had discovered whilst exploring the area around her aunt's house. According to the paper she had been sent, it would take her straight to the Angelic Layer Stadium, since Rin was new to Tokyo.

Seeing the blue-silver bus swerving gracefully around the corner, Rin hurried for the stop, hoping it wouldn't provoke her asthma too much. She was in such as rush that when she reached the bus, she had yet to take her purse out of her bag. Getting in, she accidentally jabbed somebody with her elbow.

"Hey, watch it!" piped up a shrill voice.

"Watch it yourself, fat ass," retorted Rin, without even turning to look.

Really, it was hardly Rin's fault. The bus was early, for one thing, and it was positively jammed with people. If somebody was going to get a little huffy over and accident, Rin wasn't about to apologise. And so Rin manage to blur into the crowd, finding a tucked-away empty seat, and then proceeded to stare out of the window, her mind drifting away with the clouds…

The bus stopped by the Stadium later, spitting out a small crowd of people, most of them gabbling excitedly about Angelic Layer. Rolling her eyes, Rin stomped the rest of the way up the concrete steps towards the doors.

Dozens of other people, mostly around teenage though there were some kids and adults too, were milling around in the building. Inside, it was very modern and pristine-looking. The floors consisted of polished blue tiles and the walls were mostly white or glass. Rin looked around, biting the inside of her mouth.

"Where the hell am I meant to go in this crazy place?" she asked out loud, holding the map between her hands. Suddenly, someone barged into her, and Rin stumbled, the map tearing in two.

"Watch it, moron!"

A boy of around sixteen was the speaker. He had spiky, dark red hair, dark grey eyes and was wearing a dark brown denim jacket, a black T-shirt which had some writing on that Rin couldn't make out. Along with jeans, red-and-white trainers and two purple sweatbands on his wrists, he looked fairly ordinary to Rin, but she could see a human-shaped item in the pocket of his jacket.

"Watch it yourself, asshole." Rin replied, glaring blankly at him. He looked slightly surprised, as people often did after being the receiver of Rin's 'in-your-face' insults and deadeye stare. But then he simply smirked.

"You talk big for a rookie, don't you? If you want the kiddie league, it's over there." he said, pointing.

Rin jerked her head, eyebrows raised.

"And who are you meant to be? The champion? By the looks, I'd say dead last."

"Kado Yatsukoji." responded the boy, eyeing Rin, "Don't expect you've heard of me since you're such a novice."

"Rin Furishine. And you'll be hearing that name a lot more from now on, loser." Rin smirked, and stalked off, head raised defiantly.

Kado watched her leave, head tilted slightly to one side and eyebrows up.

"Yeah, I just bet I will." he muttered, before turning and walking away in the opposite direction.

* * *

Rin was still seething after Kado had left, feeling a little foolish but struggling as hard as she could internally not to look self-conscious. This wasn't as difficult for Rin most of the time, since she already attracted weird looks because of her clothes, hair and general attitude.

"Hey!"

Rin turned around so see a girl standing behind her. The girl had shoulder-length light brown hair (it was difficult to judge the length correctly as she had it up in two buns at the side of her hair, tied there with sunflower scrunches) warm hazel eyes, a cute vest-top with a pink chibi-star on it, blue leggings and trainers. In a small bag, an Angel with wavy blue hair poked out.

"Are you new?" the girl inquired, tipping her head to one side. Rin nodded.

"Me too! I just found D-7. What room are you in?"

"I'm in the same as you." Rin replied, feeling she should try and be a little sociable, "I'm Rin, by the way."

"I'm Kohaku," the other teenager smiled. She pulled the small doll Rin had spotted out of her bag. "This is Akira, my Angel."

Akira's hair seemed to be held back in a messy, spirally ponytail. The outfit consisted of a strange shiny turquoise kimono/dress, which had jagged sleeves that had been torn artistically off so the Angel's arms moved freely, small red gloves on her hands. The top and bottom half of the blue thing separated by a jet-black ribbon. Legs came out from under the shiny, knee-length material, finished off with what looked like purple pumps which had an extra thick sole.

"She's cool." Rin told Kohaku, unable to think of much else to say.

Fumbling in her own back, she brought out Iolanthe. Kohaku studied her with interest, particularly at the boots and blue strips.

"I like her! You kind of went for the aero-dynamic look with the leotard."

"Something like that." Rin shrugged, not wanting to admit she had picked the leotard solely because it looked good and because it was already easy to alter.

"So, where's D-7?" Rin went straight to the point in asking, "I've been looking for it but some jackass barged into me and I lost my map."

"This way." Kohaku grinned, and walked off.

Rin followed, stuffing Iolanthe back into her bag. While Kohaku seemed nice, Rin didn't like showing people her Angel for some reason. It seemed to make Iolanthe feel less special, private. Rin liked to think that Iolanthe was solely hers, and not just something for others to gawk at. She knew thinking this way made her sound like a child who had a toy she didn't want to share, but it was how she felt. And, in retrospective, she kind of was.

"Um...here it is." Kohaku mumbled, pushing open the door and going inside. Rin followed.

Six people looked up as she came in. Three girls were all sitting in red leather chairs, all of them with expensive-looking clothes that were obviously designer, and they were all flicking heavily made-up eyes at Rin, possibly finding it difficult to take in her had-a-fight-with-a-washer outfit. Two boys were talking to each other over a table, excitedly holding out their Angels, though Rin spotted a little girl with pink strap-on shoes and wispy blonde hair sitting next to one of the boys.

Pretending she couldn't see any of them looking, Rin strode over to where Kohaku had parked herself, picked up a random magazine and pretended to read. The boys returned to their conversation, their interest in the new girl fading. The three girls however, had not.

"Excuse me."

An overly sweet voice suddenly interrupted Rin's half-assed reading. Dropping her magazine in mild surprise, Rin looked up. The designer-clad girls had moved from their comfy red chairs and were standing in front of Rin and Kohaku. The girl with the shortest skirt, long spiralling blonde hair and most perfectly applied lipstick was the speaker.

"Huh?" Rin asked, her voice sounding slightly muffled and even a bit gormless.

"Well...are you _meant_ to be in here?" she asked sweetly. Rin blinked.

"Leave her alone, Reiko," Kohaku mumbled into her lap. The girl, Reiko, shot Kohaku a haughty and condescending look.

"I wasn't talking to _you, _Kohaku." she told her, pronouncing Kohaku's name mockingly, "I was talking to..."

She looked at Rin expectantly.

"Give me your name and maybe I'll give you mine," Rin responded, eyeing Reiko with distaste.

"Hey! Don't talk to Reiko like-" butted in the girl to Leiko's right, a red-headed girl with hair in plaited bunches, but Reiko waved a hand imperiously,

"My name is Reiko Jubi. But as I was saying, are you..._supposed_ to be here?"

"If this is room D-7, then yeah." Rin answered coldly, bending down in her seat to pick up the magazine, flicking it open importantly.

"You didn't tell Reiko your name." the girl on Leiko's left with short black hair said bossily. Rin looked up, raising her eyebrows.

"Furishine."

"Your _name_ is Furishine?" asked the black-haired girl with slightly flared jeans incredulously.

Rin's eyes flicked slightly to Kohaku, who was looking from at Rin with something like admiration on her face.

"No, that's my last name. I don't feel like telling you my first name." Rin replied frostily, holding up the magazine on purpose up to her face so Leiko was blocked from view.

The boys were now looking over in interest, feeling the tension in the air, and even the little girl looked up.

"Hey! Don't ignore Reiko!" the girl with orangey-red hair squeaked.

Talking from behind the shiny magazine, Rin said,

"Well if I don't ignore her it means I have to listen to her annoying voice."

"What did you just-" started one of the girls (Rin couldn't see because the magazine was still in her face) when suddenly, a bell rung.

"Attention please! Could Aimi Buburu and Kohaku Tanaruchi please head for the arena? Their match is about to begin."

Reiko and the black-haired girl turned to look at the flustered auburn-haired girl.

"That's you, Aimi," Reiko informed Aimi bossily, "We'll be watching you." Leiko then turned and regarded Rin with her brown eyes haughtily, "And we'll finished this later, Furishine. Come on, Sorako."

And with that, Reiko and the black-haired girl left the room, the latter glancing behind her. Rin, sighing, stood up as well; turning to face Kohaku and pretending Aimi wasn't still standing there.

"Thought they'd never leave." Rin said to Kohaku, who smiled widely.

"That was really something, Rin! I haven't seen someone tell Reiko where to get off for a long time!"

"Eh, whatever, I don't care about them," Rin shrugged, looking at Kohaku, "You do, though, right?"

Kohaku nodded, looking almost ashamed.

"She's in my school... And, well-"

"Yeah. I had those in my last school." Rin nodded. Then a door opened in a corner of the room. A woman looked out, spotting Aimi and Kohaku.

"You two need to come with me now," she informed them, "The Arena's this way."

"I'd better go." Kohaku said as Aimi went toward the woman. "Wish me luck!"

"Trust me," Rin snorted, tossing her head in order to flick her bangs out of her eyes. "You won't need it."

And with an eye-roll and a slight wave, Rin left, heading for the stadium.

* * *

Typical Rin, eh? Enemies as soon as she walks through the door. Place your bets on who she's up against, the arrogant Kato, bitchy Reiko or somebody totally unexpected? Who knows?

Keep reading for the next chapter! (Which will HOPEFULLY be in soon!)


	5. Blizzard of tension

"And now! We begin the first match of the Angelic Layer Tournament!" the commentator called into his microphone, earning an excited cheer from the crowd.

Rin, who got a good seat automatically because she was part of the tournament, re-crossed her legs, examining the arena.

There was a kind of white floor that gleamed with a bright light. Above there was a thing that looked like a scorekeeper you would see in a basketball court. It had the silhouettes of the two Angels, bars that represented the Angel's health and a timer, as well as the names of the combatants and the Angels. Rin wondered who on earth took time to put that all up.

"For our very first match of the Tournament, we have Aimi Buburu-"

Aimi looked up as the announcer called her name and gave a wave, turquoise hair clips glittering. A couple of whistles and some shouting followed this. She smiled.

"And Kohoku Tanaruchi!"

More shouts followed as Kohaku waved as well, a bit awkwardly.

"Both of these contestants have participated in the Tokyo Angelic Layer Tournament before, entering their Angels for the first time last year." the announcer went on.

Rin rolled her eyes.

_It's not like the crowd CARES._ She thought, her emerald gaze sweeping over the excited audience, _So why bore them with details? They'll lose interest if he yammers on. They came to see a fight._

_  
_"And now, let's begin the match!"

Rin jumped at this, previously lost in her musings.

"Dazzle! Astound your enemies with your power!" called Aimi, throwing her Angel into the layer.

The Angel wouldn't have landed on the layer at all if the redhead hadn't hastily made her perform a somewhat wonky twirling motion in mid-air.

Aimi's angel wore a sort of shiny metallic yellow Lycra thing that looked like a leotard but with a hot pink skirt. She also had on bright pink boots. The hair was a voluminous scarlet, brighter and redder then Aimi's own locks, and looked like it had been back-combed. Rin had to admit that even though the leotard and boots clashed somewhat, it was still a pretty cool outfit.

"From raging seas, soar forward to victory! Akira!" called Kohaku, sending the blue-haired Angel into the layer.

Akira did not perform any flips like Dazzle had, but simply landed and looked up, raising her arms in a defensive pose.

"ANGELIIIC...FIGHT!" the announcer yelled over the crowd's cheering, and the Angel's began.

* * *

Dazzle ran forwards to Akira, striking it in the chest. Akira skidded backwards slightly, aiming a punch. Dazzle dodged and tried to kick, but Akira caught her foot with a gloved hand and flipping Dazzle over.

Dazzle landed on her back with a thud, but flipped her legs into the air like she was going to a handstand, but instead managed to catch Akira's thigh with her foot and slam her onto the layer, a slight cracking noise issuing from the spot where Akira landed. Akira got up, and Dazzle tried another run, but Akira's hand shot out, striking the flame-coloured Angel in the neck with two fingers. Dazzle staggered back, but grabbed Akira's arm and tried to swing her around. Akira's foot flew forwards; hitting Dazzle in the chest but winding up sprawled out on the floor with her.

Rin gripped the arms of her seat. She could see what Kohaku was trying to do, but she wasn't quite carrying it off properly. The two girls were evenly matched, but there was an amateurish attitude about the way that they fought. Rin herself could see a lot of openings each of them left, and the amount of times they could have countered when they didn't. Little things like that.

It was making Rin feel slightly jittery for some reason, and she desperately wanted Kohaku to win, which was mildly strange since Rin had only known Kohaku for a couple of hours.

But still...

And right now, it looked like Aimi was winning, since Akira had lost most damage. Rin bit her lip.

Akira's hand shot out, hitting Dazzle in the cheek, sending the red Angel sprawling onto the floor.

_She needs to kick that shiny bitch out of the layer._ Rin realised, looking up and squinting slightly at the two Angels. _She's never going to win if she keeps trying to even out the damage like that. Dazzle seems to be a middleweight.  
_  
Then Rin shook her head. What on earth was she doing, going on about weight and Angelic Layer strategies?

"Come on, Kohaku..." Rin muttered, eyes following the progress of the two tiny fighters, "Get a little further to the left and you can win."

As if Kohaku heard, Akira send a heavy punch at Dazzle, her fist slamming into the opposing Angel's gut. She fell backwards, landing on her side, right next to the edge. She attempted to get up, but Akira, in a final surge, dashed forwards and kicked Dazzle hard in where her ribs would be, knocking her off the edge of the layer.

"Ah!" cried Aimi as the timer resounded.

"And Akira wins!" yelled the commentator, and a mix of boos, cheers and murmuring erupted through the crowd.

Rin stood up and ran around the Layer in order to reach Kohaku, who was sitting there with the head-gear in her hands looking stunned.

"Nice kick!" called Rin.

Kohaku shook her head slowly from side to side, like a dog trying to dislodge water from her ears.

"I won!" Kohaku finally gasped, oblivious to Aimi who picked up her Angel and went dashing out of the Arena with a squeal of either misery of frustration.

"Yeah, you did!" Rin nodded, gesturing. "C'mon. Let's go get something to eat!"

Laughing, Kohaku followed.

* * *

As the two teenagers entered the lobby, they saw Reiko standing with her back to them, and a sulky-looking Aimi in front of her.

"I can't believe you lost to _her_! One of the easiest wins in this tournament!" Reiko was saying, hands on her hips. "I mean, come ON! What the hell were you doing out there?"

"I don't know..." Aimi muttered, shrugging her shoulders. "It wasn't anything like how we practised!"

"Of COURSE it wasn't, idiot!" Reiko snapped, swatting Aimi on her forehead. "Tanaruchi wasn't exactly practising with you, was she? Of course she's going to fight differently!"

"Well I'm not as good as Angelic Layer as you, Rei!" Aimi defended feebly. Reiko tossed her hair, pleased.

"Come on! I want to find out who I'm fighting next! And where's Sorako with the drinks?!"

The two girls left, Reiko walking confidently and Aimi following her at a miserable little shuffle. Rin turned her head to say something to Kohaku, and then found Kohaku was slumped against a wall.

"What's?" Rin inquired, coming over to Kohaku. She sighed.

"She's right. I am an easy win..." she mumbled.

"Are you really going to listen to what she says?" Rin demanded fiercely, but Kohaku shrugged.

"You saw. I mean, I made loads of mistakes. My technique was all over the place. I guess I was just lucky."

Rin hesitated, frowning a bit. It felt like there were to Rin's, arguing over what to say. She was still wondering why she was rooting for Kohaku so much, but Reiko had already decided she hated Rin, so why not try and find someone else who didn't like Reiko?

"Alright, yeah, you were a pretty amateurish." Rin said, slowly. Kohaku looked at her, hazel-coloured eyes looking mildly shocked.

"But so was Aimi." continued Rin, apparently oblivious to Kohaku's expression, "I mean, this was your first match in this tournament, right? Who says you have to be perfect on the first shot? You've got time to improve, haven't you? Face it; Aimi was the worse fighter, and Reiko's just pissed off about it."

Kohaku started to laugh, and Rin grinned too, despite herself.

"Oh, yeah. You never got around to explaining to me about this whole rivalry thing you two have got going on. Tell me about the Queen Bitch."

Kohaku grinned now, looking slightly impish. She sat down on one of the seats, considering.

"Lessee...Reiko Jubi. Obsesses with famous people and clothes, wears lipstick WAY too bright for her. Likes to think she's better then everyone at everything." Kohaku began breezily, "Aimi. Actually ginger but says she's a redhead. Likes jewellery, wear her hair stupid. Sorako, black hair, probably the smartest out of the three. I don't know her very well, but she hangs around with Reiko and wears only designer stuff."

Rin sniggered at the descriptions, but she could tell that Kohaku had probably had had more then one first-hand experience of Reiko's clique.

"Why does she act like such a royal pain in the ass?" Rin questioned Kohaku, who was curling one of Akira's many strands of hair around her pinkie. Kohaku shrugged,

"I'm not sure. You'll probably find this hard to believe, but when we were little kids, we were friends. Not BEST friends. But then Reiko started hanging out with her older sister and her friends and they were all into music and clothes and boys. So Reiko started copying them, and eventually she pretended like all her old friends didn't exist, but people still sucked up to her because she 'knew people' in the older school. I think she picked up Aimi and Sorako when we moved up to our other school, and since then she acts like a wannabe It girl."

"That's so stupid." Rin burst in, "God!"

Kohaku glanced at Rin.

"I wish I could have told her that when I had the chance."

"So tell her after she loses against whoever she's up against." Rin replied. "You KNOW she will. She obviously just thinks she's all that because Aimi and Sorako kiss her ass all the time."

Kohaku giggled, and Rin stood up. Together they both went to one of the counters to the left of the lobby, Kohaku getting a slice of pie and a milkshake while Rin chose a doughnut and some juice. Sitting down on one of the white tables, Kohaku said,

"Thanks for sticking up for me earlier, Rin. You know, in D-7."

"Yeah, well," Rin answered, raising her eyebrows, "Somebody has to tell people what they think of 'em, fuck the consequences."

They both laughed. Then suddenly a kid of about ten came running over.

"Kohaku!"

"Oh, hi Mikio." Kohaku smiled. The boy grinned.

"Rin, this is my little brother, Mikio. Mikio, this is Rin."

It was easy to tell Mikio was Kohaku's brother. They both had them same hazel eyes, same mouth and cheeks, and he had similar-coloured hair to Kohaku too, though his was more of a dusty shade then his big sister's.

"Hey." Rin nodded, taking a noisy slurp of her juice. Mikio said Hello back, then a look of surprise suddenly crossed his face.

"Hey, is your last name Furishine?"

"Yeah," Rin said, and Kohaku shot her brother a puzzled look.

"You're the next match up!" Mikio told Rin, pointing toward the large T.V screen above a doorway, "I just read it when I was looking at the results for Kohaku's match."

"Oh yeah?" Rin said, curiosity in her tone, "Who am I up against?"

But somehow, she knew the answer even before Mikio said,

"Reiko Jubi."

"I knew you would be!" gasped Kohaku. "Oh, Reiko's going to be _so_ annoyed. She's already getting challenged by you and you've only known her for like five minutes!"

"You make it sound like we're going for a dual." Rin commented, but Kohaku was too wound-up to acknowledge the joke.

"We'd better hurry up!" she gabbled, swallowing the last of her pie, "It should probably start soon."

* * *

They left; Rin walking behind Kohaku and her brother and feeling somewhat amused at Kohaku's reaction to the news that Rin would be facing Reiko. She seemed really nervous, more so then Rin.

But just as she was about to enter D-7 with Kohaku, she felt someone tapping on her shoulder, and turned to see the guy from earlier, Kado Yatsukoji.

"What do YOU want?" Rin asked him haughtily. He smirked.

"I'm looking forward to this match, Furishine." He told Rin, the undertone in his voice mocking.

"Yeah, great. Now move." Rin instructed him, anger fizzing through her veins. He let out a snicker and Rin's hand curled into a fist.

"Yeah, I'm going. But I thought I might warn you of something."

And he leant so close to Rin she thought for a second that he was going to eat her or something. For some reason, she became very aware she was a head shorter then he was.

"I thought I should warn you." He said, softly, "That Reiko is probably going to try and cheat to try and win against you."

"Oh, yeah?" Rin replied, sounding bold but finding herself suddenly having a desperate desire to get in D-7, "How do you know that?"

"It wouldn't be the first time." He replied simply, and took a step back. "I'll be watching, Rin."

And he left.

"Asshole!" Rin shouted after him, and entered D-7.

"What was that?" Kohaku asked Rin as she entered the room. Rin shrugged.

"Just getting a friendly warning about Reiko's 'cheating' habits from the neighbourhood dick, apparently."

"Cheat?" Kohaku repeated. Then suddenly, a curtain of blonde waves blocked her.

"Hey. Furishine!" Reiko snapped, without preamble, "Don't you go thinking for one _second_ I'm anything as bad as Aimi is! I'm going to make you regret what you said to me earlier."

"I quiver with _fear." _Rin growled, smirking, leaning in so she breathed in Reiko's face.

Behind Reiko and Rin, Aimi looked hurt and Sorako had her eyebrows raised.

Reiko recoiled, nose wrinkled dramatically.

"EW! Don't breath on me with your manky bad breath!" she squawked. Rin sniggered.

"Whatever, biatch. Just get your blonde-bleached head out of my face. It's making me dizzy from the peroxide. Or maybe that's just your nasty-ass perfume."

"You take that back!" Reiko hissed, her pretty face contorting.

"Make me!" Rin snapped back. Reiko seemed to try and puff herself up, like an enraged Siamese cat.

"Take that back or else!" she repeated, ominously.

"Ooh, what are you going to do? Talk at me?" Rin smiled icily, glaring at her, "I'd crush you, baby."

"Rin, don't!" Kohaku gasped.

"Bring it on!!"

And then Rin and Reiko were upon each other. Reiko bowled Rin over and both of them landed on the ground, temporarily stunned by the impact. Rin, trying to regain her sense, grabbed a handful of Reiko's hair and tugged, hard. Reiko sent her fist out, apparently trying to slap Rin but instead accidentally jabbing her hand into Rin's chest.

"Ouch! What are you doing, you bloody pervert?!" shouted Rin, pain throbbing through her as Reiko tried to slap her face again.

Rin retaliated by kicking Reiko quite hard in the shin, which was pretty difficult since both of them were on the floor.

"All right, stop! STOP!"

Two men came out and tugged the two girls upright, on guy holding Reiko's hands behind her back, the other holding Rin's arms.

"Save it for the match, you two!" the guy holding Rin said, as Rin squirmed around in his arms.

"Do you want us to have to escort you in?" the guy holding Reiko asked, annoyed, and both of the girls fell still.

"Fine, we're going!" Reiko snapped, pushing the guard off her.

"Yeah, get off me!" Rin hissed, wriggling free.

The two girls glared at each other before marching toward the Arena, were an explosion of sound greeted them both.

"And the two contestants have entered the Arena!" shouted the commentator, and the crowd screamed.

"Ladies, take your seats!"

Reiko positioned herself at the left of the Layer, Rin at the right. They both glared at each other, and both mouthed at exactly the same time,

"Get ready."


	6. Iolanthe's fight! The frozen Angel?

Yes, I'm actually updating! I know it's been a while. I was just a bit pissed off about the lackage of reviews, but it's not you guys' fault Angelic Layer isn't that well known.

To Hiei's-Dark-Little-Phoneix: Wow, thanks for pointing that out! I can't believe I forgot to write in Iolanthe's eye colour! Thanks for the reminder.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Reiko held her Angel in one manicured hand. Chocolate brown eyes seemed to scorch through her pink visor, met by Rin's own green ones, glittering with scorn. Reiko pulled her arm back, holding her Angel like a grenade.

"Go, spread your glamour throughout the world! Diamantina!"

Throwing her Angel, Diamantina, the marionette performed a bizarre kind of spinning motion, skirt fluttering delicately, landing perfectly on her tip-toes, heels tapping faintly on the Layer.

"Show off," Rin muttered sourly, picking up Iolanthe.

Remembering that she was supposed to say some stupid little introductory statement, Rin lifted Iolanthe high into the air and cried,

"Screw them all! Go, Iolanthe!"

But she before Rin could throw Iolanthe in, the commentator teed-up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa, Furishine! You can't have that as your introductory statement!" He cried, incredulously. Rin scowled and put her hands on her hips.

"Just why the hell not?" she demanded.

"Keep it PG, for crying out loud!"

Rin let out a sigh of annoyance. She hadn't really thought of going into huge detail with the battle cry. So;

"Fine." Rin cleared her throat, and said one that she had contemplated earlier, suprisingly seriously and in an oddly soft voice, "Fall from the sky, ice star! Iolanthe!"

Iolanthe went spinning into the Layer, landing on both feet. She jerked her head up, emerald eyes glinting. The Angels seemed to regard each other for a moment. Diamantina, predictably, wore all white besides her hair, which was a dark silver colour and fell down to hair waist, despite its painstakingly coiled hair. Her outfit seemed to consist of a princess-style dress, that sucked in at the waist and flared out at the skirt, plus very pointy boots and long white bridal gloves. She even had a tiara.

"ANGELIIIC...FIGHT!"

* * *

Both Angels rushed toward each other. Diamantina performed some kind of spinning kick, first with one leg and then bringing the other around in a swift arc. Iolanthe darted back, hitting out with her right fist, which Diamantina blocked. Rin's eyes narrowed as Iolanthe was forced to back flip out of the way of Diamantina's karate chop.

"And it's a fierce battle going on here, ladies and gentlemen!"

Rin grimaced with annoyance. She seemed to be mentally drowning out the voices of the Commentator and the crowd. But something odd seemed to be happening to Iolanthe. Every time she reached too far toward Diamantina, she would flinch at the last minute, and Rin would have to force her to dodge an upcoming attack. Suddenly, Kado Yatsukoji's voice went sparking through Rin's brain;

_"Reiko is probably going to try and cheat to try and win against you."_

Cheat. How was she going to cheat?

Suddenly, Diamantina rushed at Iolanthe. Rin tried to make her move, but as Iolanthe crouched, a sudden crackling sound came out of nowhere, and Iolanthe went flying across the Layer as Diamantina punched her squarely in the cheek.

"It looks like that Angel is a bit warped!" The Announcer yelled.

Rin glared up at him and shrieked back,

"The only thing that's 'warped' here is your retarded hair!"

"That's rich, coming from somebody who looks like they got attacked by a blender!" The commentator argued back, causing the crowd to giggle.

Rin flipped the gigglers off, then returned her attention to the match. But experimenting a couple of times, Rin realised to her horror that Iolanthe didn't seem to be able to attack Diamantina without faltering. Rin bit her mouth, feeling her teeth sink into her fleshy lower lip.

_I've got think of a way to get Diamantina out of the Layer without Iolanthe freezing on me, _Rin thought, making Iolanthe block, _I got it! Get ready, Reiko, you bitch!_

Iolanthe, who had been patiently blocking, suddenly jumped backwards and ran across the Layer. Diaminatina followed.

"Hey, what are you doing, Furishine?!" demanded Leiko, "You're running away?!"

"You wish, skank!" Rin screamed back.

The distraction worked. Iolanthe stood right at the edge of the Layer, and as Diamantina dived towards her, Iolanthe flung herself to the side at the last moment. Diamantina went flying out of a Layer, becoming lifeless before she even hit the ground. Reiko let out a gasp of horror.

"Diamantina!"

"ANNND IOLANTHE WINS!" Called the Announcer, and the crowd began to applaud.

Reiko ripped off her visor before rushing out of her chair, picking up Diamantina and straightening the Angel's tiara with her little finger. She looked quite upset for a moment, but as she looked up Reiko glared at Rin as Rin came down too, plucking Iolanthe off the Layer.

"That was a cheap win, Rin Furishine!" hissed Reiko, gently pushing a coil of dark silver hair out of Diamantina's hair. Rin's eyes narrowed and she looked like she would quite like to hit Reiko.

"Yeah, well maybe I would've fought you properly if YOU weren't a cheat! I don't know what the hell you did to Iolanthe, but either way you STILL lost, so _screw _you!"

And with that, Rin promptly turned on her heel and stomped off, even pushing past Kohaku and storming out of the Arena.

* * *

The water gushed out of the tap, sloshing along down the smooth surface of the sink before gurgling down the drain. Rin cupped her hands under the water, splashing it onto her face. She shook her hair out of her eyes, sighing with annoyance.

"Damn," muttered Rin. She stole a glance at Iolanthe, who was sticking out of Rin's backpack. She seemed to be staring at Rin with placid, grass-coloured eyes. Rin stared back for a moment before snorting and looking away.

"That was unfortunate for your first match, Rin Furishine."

Rin gasped and whipped around. A woman who looked around her twenties stood behind Rin. She had short, ice blue hair and slanted, sand coloured eyes. Rin put her hand over her chest, panting. She was quite tall and had some generous curves on her.

"Don't sneak up behind me like that! Jeez..." Rin managed to say. The woman bowed her head slightly.

"I apologise. I ought to introduce myself. My name is Shirushi Watakonabe."

"Shirushi, huh?" Rin repeated, relaxing somewhat. "Cool. Obviously, you know my name. That's Iolanthe." Rin put in, nodding at the violet-haired Angel.

Shirushi went closer and looked at her, but did not pick Iolanthe up. Rin raised her eyebrows, but she felt oddly pleased at this hands-off attitude. It was nice to see somebody who wasn't so grabby.

"So, are you somebody's older sister or what?" asked Rin, conversationally, wiping her wet hands on the hips of her shorts.

Shirushi shook her head slightly, her bangs flicking as her head moved.

"No, I'm the tournament myself. I received my Angel for my 16th birthday, and I've been playing for three years since then."

"You're nineteen?!" demanded Rin, astonished. "I thought you were in your twenties, at least!"

Shirushi shrugged, looking rather bored. It was clear that this was a standard reaction for her. Rin would have felt guilty, but Shirushi definitely didn't seem the type of woman to get upset easily.

"No, but most people seem to make that assumption. I suppose it's simply because of my height."

"Amongst other things." Rin muttered enviously, eyeing Shirushi's figure. "But how did you know that was my first match? Were you watching it all?"

Shirushi nodded.

"Yes. Reiko Jubi does not have the best reputation for skill or fair play in this game. I had heard that she had a small fight with you before the match and planted some kind of tag on your Angel that caused her offensive attacks to defect."

"So that's it!" Rin gasped, looking furious. "That-"

"Quite." Agreed Shirushi laconically.

She went to Iolanthe, gently picking her up with pale hand. Turning the marionette in her head, she reached toward the back off Iolanthe's head and pushed her hair out of the way. On the back of Iolanthe's neck was a small black thing, which Shirushi removed swiftly and threw in the bin, which sat in the corner of the room. Rin was about to speak, when suddenly a chiming noise issued outside.

"That will be the next match." Shirushi stated, turning towards the door, "Are you coming?"

Rin contemplated the invitation, then shrugged.

"Yeah, a'ight."

* * *

Reaching the platform that overlooked the Layer, Rin was pleased to see that it was empty save for Shirushi, herself and a man who was muttering rapidly into a mobile phone. He paid them no attention at all.

"So who's up now, then?" asked Rin, clasping her hands behind her head and staring with interest. "I don't see anybody in that chair over there."

"You will," Shirushi stated. "The person I wanted to see up now is Chisachi Akiyama."

Rin nodded and directed her gaze back to the Layer, wondering what made this particular Deus so special. Two people entered through the main doors. A girl with short red hair was on the left. But Rin didn't see the other Deus on the right. It looked like this Deus had just entered with her sister.

"Is the other Deus late?" asked Rin, squinting.

The kid, she realised, was the little blonde girl who had been in D-7 with the two boys. She was holding something in her right fist.

"No, it looks like they're both on time." Shirushi stated, staring down at them. "That girl looks a little nervous."

The red-haired girl did indeed have a rather uncertain look on her face as the crowd cheered and whistled. Rin noticed that this pair were getting a lot more attention then Kohaku and Aimi's match or hers. Rin kept glancing at the door, waiting for the second Deus to arrive.

"Ah, they've sat down now." Shirushi commentated.

And then it clicked.

Rin stared as the blonde girl settled herself comfortably into the robotic chair that was furthest away from the platform. She looked totally and utterly relaxed. The other girl scrambled into her seat, glancing wearily around her at the crowd.

"And now, please put your hands together for these two combatants!" cried the Announcer. The blonde child smiled, lifting up whatever it was in her fist and announced in a surprisingly clear voice,

"Grow from the Earth, nourished by the sun, spreading beauty everywhere! Roza!"

The girl threw out the Angel, who somersaulted perfectly before landing gracefully on her toes, bowing. Roza's outfit consisted of a matching scarlet vest-top and very short skirt. On her legs she had thigh-length brown boots. She even had little gloves on her hands, ending just before her wrists. Her hair was a little past chest-length and a bright pink. Her eyes were blue.

The crowd cheered and whistled. The second girl stammered through her introduction, before throwing out her Angel.

"ANGELIIIC...FIGHT!"

Rin was still gaping at the Layer when she was finally brought back to Earth.

"This is going to be a dull match for Akiyama." sighed Shirushi. "It won't be fun to battle an amateur."

"You're fuckin' with me." Rin stated, staring in total astonishment at the arena, her mouth open with shock. "That kid is a Deus?!"

"No, I'm quite serious," replied Shirushi, glancing at Rin, "Haven't you ever heard of Hatoko Kobayashi?"

Sighing at Rin's blank expression, she went on,

"Well, Akiyama is said to be the second Kobayashi. That is, one of the best child prodigy's in Angelic Layer."

Rin turned back to the Layer, watching the pink-haired Angel twirl and lunge. It was difficult for her to believe that this..._kid_ was the same age as Yukiko! Rin also couldn't believe the sheer skill from somebody who wasn't supposed to be able to tie her shoes yet. Roza was clearly toying with the opponent, the second Angel was badly scratched and scraped and Roza barely had a scratch on her. Rin's eyes flicked up to the timer- The match was almost over. The Timer sounded.

"AND IT'S A KNOCKOUT! ROZA WINS!"

Chisachi Akiyama giggled modestly and waved to the crowd, then said something to her defeated opponent, who managed a sheepish smile.  
"Told you." stated Shiruchi. "She's a prodigy."

"Yeah." Rin said, astonished. "No kidding."

* * *

"Welcome back." Kata said, looking up from her magazine as Rin came in.

"'Sup?" answered Rin in reply, kicking off her shoes. Then she heard thudding, and turned just in time to see Yukiko pounding down the stairs.

"Hi Rin!" squealed Yukiko, lunging at Rin and hugging her knees. "I just got here today!"

"Yeah, yeah, get off my legs." grunted Rin, uncomfortably by her sisters clinging. Yukiko obeyed, releasing Rin and looking up at her, smiling.

"What?" Rin asked, slightly put off to see her sister gazing up at her like that. Yukiko looked slightly apologetic in the face of Rin's confusion, and explained,

"Well, I went to see your match."

Rin froze. She managed to croak out a "What?" but it sounded hollow in her throat.

"Yeah! I saw your Angel, see." Yukiko explained, oblivious to just how stiff Rin had just gone. "Can I see her up close? She was pretty far away."

Rin hesitated. Then, taking a deep breath, she reached into her backpack and slowly pulled Iolanthe out. Yukiko did not grab at her, but simply reached and touched Iolanthe's silky violet hair.

"She's pretty." gasped Yukiko, stroking the hair with her index finger. Rin's other hand reached up, feeling the uneven strands of the hair that only fell to her shoulders. She smiled, but it was a sad, odd smile.

"I didn't want her to look ugly." Rin stated, her voice breaking. "I didn't want her to look like me."

Then, with a strangled sort of noise, Rin snatched Iolanthe out of Yukiko's reached, dashed off upstairs and slammed the door.

* * *

More angst from Rin, plus a surprise Deus! This chapter was actually quite fun to write. (I hadn't actually planned on releashing Shirushi yet, but she just fit in well.)

Look out for cameo's of BTI characters in my other AL fic, Renewed Interest. But most importantly:

Keep Reading!


	7. Change and anger

Ohiyo everyone! After a burst of inspiration, I finally got chapter nine up!

I'd just like to thank you all for your reviews, and also to Karl Starhl: Whoops! I didn't realise they said the Angels name instead of the persons! Thanks for telling me.

Incidentally, I'm glad everyone liked Chisachi and Shirushi (I can't believe how many times I spelt her name wrong last chapter...)

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

The scissors glinted in the sunny bathroom, making silver darts as Rin snipped and snipped, large tufts of over-dyed hair falling into the sink like feathers, the sound of the blades clicking together and the drip of the faucet oddly relaxing. Rin stifled a slightly manic giggle as she pulled up clumps of her hair, feeling a strange notion of release as she severed it.

After she had finished, Rin put the scissors down, a few strands of black hair stuck to the metal blades. Straightening up, Rin caught sight of her reflection in the mirror.

Her hair looked a real mess. The bangs that usually hung in front of her ears fell to her chest, and were much longer then the rest of her hair. Her fringe was sticking to her forehead with sweat. And the back was short and raggedy-looking, sticking up somewhat at the back, although Rin's hair was so thick that there was still enough to reach the base of her neck, the strands rough and uneven. Rin ran a hand through it, surprised at the softness of it.

She smiled as she drank it all in.

Strands of ebony hair stuck to her cheeks and were scattered on her chest and shoulders. Rin brushed them off with a sweep of her hand, her nails looking chipped and bitten.

Rin returned her attention to her reflection. The bathroom mirror was slightly clouded with steam, but it was fairly big, and Rin begin looking herself over, not just at her hair but also the rest of her.

Pale limbs. Short-ish forearms, slightly fleshy upper arms. High cheekbones.

Rin twisted to the side, looking at herself from different angles, suddenly finding herself fascinated by her own body.

Perky boobs, she noted, feeling rather pleased with that observation. Perhaps not as big as she'd have liked, but perky. Chalky legs. Narrow waist. Ass like an apple- firm, round and hard. Pointy elbows. Rin poked at her not-completely-flat stomach.

Blowing her fringe out of her face, Rin remembered when she was little; she used to have hair the colour of cocoa, like Yukiko's. But when she was about nine, Rin's hair had gradually turned black. Rin had thought when she first noticed this that Kura would be disappointed- She often liked to run her fingers through Rin's hair, watching it shine in the light.

Kura didn't seem pleased, that was certain, but it was more...wistful, then anything else. Sometimes Rin caught Kura staring at her with an oddly sad expression. As she got older, Rin figured it must have something to do with her dad. With her hair, she looked more like him then ever.

Kura used to joke that Rin's tastes changed along with her hair. That was when Rin had starting changing, becoming more like a pre-teen and less like a child.

Rin remembered going through a stage when she was about twelve where she wore nothing but black, and kept buying cheap, metallic jewellery and buying band T-shirts she'd never even heard of. A twelve-year-old Goth.

Rin snorted with disdain at the memory. She stared almost absently at her face in the mirror as her mind shifted back to more recently- Back when all she ever seemed to do was change her hair, whether it was colour, style or length, and argue with Kura.  
That was when Rin had grown bitchy and sarcastic, suddenly unable to keep her mouth shut.

Whereas Kura became defensive and irritable, Yukiko, who always seemed to be stuck in the middle of it, began acting whiny and demanding. Rin's eyes glazed over a little as she remembered when she was a happy, cocoa-haired child, before she had become moody and awkward and cold.

Rin leered at her reflection now, her eyes becoming green slits. She twisted this was and that, her head swimming with the memories of when she was younger, of her alien, teenaged body, thinking of how she had changed. How everything had changed.

Of how much she hated it.

* * *

When Rin finally came downstairs, with loud, galloping steps, Kata was surprised.

"Rin! What have you done with your hair?"

"I felt like it." shrugged Rin, pulling open the fridge door.

Kata was quiet for a second, then she merely sighed, almost fondly. Finding a bunch of cheese-slices, Rin took them out, then returned to the living room and flopping down on the sofa, popping the slice of cheese into her mouth. Yukiko was parked in front of Kata's silver TV, staring at a singer of some kind, apparently absorbed in it. Occasionally she'd giggle or repeat what someone said.

Rin was wondering vaguely if Yukiko's hair would change colour when she got older, only to remember they didn't have the same dad. Rin blinked, suddenly realising that there was another set of matches on in a few days.

"Ooh! It's Ringo Seto!" squealed Yukiko in excitement, as the previous singer exited the stage.

She had also seemed surprised at Rin's new hair, but had gotten over it pretty quickly. She was used to Rin popping up with a completely different look, and the TV was much more interesting, apparently.

"I don't know why you like that stupid bimbo." Rin snorted, wondering whether she should leave the room. But she'd just got comfy, so she stayed where she was.

"She's not stupid!" protested Yukiko indignantly, her ponytail bobbing as she talked, "She's one of the bestest singers ever!"

"Bestest isn't a word." Rin reminded Yukiko, stretching out her foot and poking Yukiko in the forehead with her toe, "And I bet she just lip-synchs."

Yukiko pouted. Then she suddenly thought of something, because she said proudly,

"She IS too a good singer! And she plays Angelic Layer!"

Rin raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, so? How does that affect the fact she's a showboating, lip-synching bimboid?"

"_You_ play Angelic Layer." summed up Yukiko, somewhat redundantly, in Rin's opinion.

Rin rolled her eyes, and then leant forwards, sticking her index finger up to demonstrate her point.

"Okay, number ONE- I don't play Angelic Layer because I like it, I play because it's a matter of pride and I still owe somebody a favour, and number TWO- Just because Ringo Bimboid plays it too doesn't mean she's NOT a stupid Barbie-doll. I mean, is she even any good?"

"Yes, she is!" Yukiko piped up, almost falling off the red cushion she was sat on.

Rin just shook her head, giving Yukiko's forehead another poke. Yukiko clutched it.

"Hey, hey, if you're going to fight, go do it outside." Kata said, smiling, as she drifted into the living room, looking breezy and elegant, as usual, "Anyway, if either of you want some, dinner's ready."

"What is it?" Rin asked immediately, her eyebrows going up with suspicion. Kata's smile grew playful.

"Oh, just some zucchini with ricotta cheese, maybe with some asparagus and chopped mushrooms-"

"Yay!" giggled Yukiko, springing up towards the kitchen. For some reason, she actually seemed to _like_ eating all this healthy, home cooked stuff. Rin pulled a face.

"Eww." She groaned.

* * *

About a week later, Rin left the house with a half-hearted, "See ya." before JUST managing to catch the bus, this time, however, it was almost empty.

Rin wasn't going to go, but she had found out after searching a list on the Internet that both Shirushi and Reiko Jubi's friend Sorako had a fight on today. Rin wanted to see them in action. Plus, she had a paranoid worry that if she stayed in the house too much, Kata would suddenly recall that Rin was supposed to be in school. Yukiko had settled in quite well in Tokyo, although since most schools were on a break.

Entering through the automatic doors, Rin immediately began scanning the area for Shirushi. Checking Iolanthe was safely inside, Rin hoisted her small bronze bag onto her back before heading off to go look for Shirushi.

A few people glanced at her as they walked past: Today, it was a sleeveless blue jacket, bright cherry-coloured vest top and a glittery belt. Plus, camouflage khakis and white-and-blue trainers.

Rin had to admit- Living with aunt Kata meant Rin had a limitless supply of weird clothes, since she and Kata were close in size. Rin had also shoved on a beige baseball-cap with a huge, jewelled butterfly on it.

Rin had just exited the canteen-like area and bought herself a couple of slices of pizza, when a voice called out, as Rin swallowed her first slice,

"You know, Furishine, there's this _wonderful_ invention called a mirror-"

Rin turned to see the sight of Kado Yatsukoji, who had his hands shoved in the pockets of his black pants and wearing an amused expression, looking scruffy and cute. Rin didn't seem to think so as she slanted her eyes and sneered,

"Have you been hanging around Reiko Jubi too much, dickweed? Cuz that's the kind of I'd _expect_ a pompous little cow to say."

"Speaking of Reiko Jubi, thanks for adding that extra entertainment before the match. It's not often people have cat-fights in Angelic Layer."

"Yeah, bet it's the biggest disappointment of your life, missing that. I bet you lie awake every night _thinking_ about it."

Rin smirked, her mouth twitching suggestively. But secretly, she was getting pretty pissed off. It was Kado, after all, who told her Reiko was going to cheat, and then he criticises her for getting annoyed over it? If he didn't like how Rin dealt with things, why did he insist on sticking his nose in?

"Been wondering what I do at night, hm? Well, I guess even you must have some interest in how other human beings entertain themselves."

Rin's left fist clenched, since her right one was still holding her second pizza slice.

"What's IS it with you, anyway?" Rin suddenly burst out, wanting very much to punch Kado in the jaw. "Why do you keep following me around all the time?! What's it to you if Reiko was gonna cheat, anyway? Why do you care about how I dress?"

Kado stared at Rin in a patronising way, and she glared back, trying to will him to stop being such a condescending prick and answer her goddamn question, when Kado replied, scathingly,

"Maybe you're just fun to piss off."

That pretty much did it. Rin, without thinking about it, suddenly lunged forward, grabbed Kado by the upper arm and smashed her pizza into his face, managing to grind it in a bit before he managed to shove her off.

"It's a good look for you, asshole." Rin yelled, before wheeling around and storming away.

"Man," a voice said, and Kado turned to see his friends heading up to him, the speaker wearing black-framed glasses and half-amused, half-exasperated expression. "Did Furishine do that?"

"Yeah, she did." replied Kado casually, picking a slice of pepperoni off his cheek and popping it into his mouth.

His friend let out a low whistle.

"I told you." he said, shaking his head. "That woman is crazy."

"Yeah, Kado, Arata's got a point." Put in a second boy, rather slowly. He had scruffy purple hair, and was looking at the upside-down pizza slice on the floor. "Why do you like her? I mean, alright, she's not bad looking, but she dresses like she raided a costume store. And she's a complete psycho!"

Kado grinned.

"Yeah, I guess."

He glanced down the corridor where Rin had departed.

"But she has a fantastic ass."

* * *

"Shirushi!"

"Hello, Rin. You look awfully flushed."

"Long story." Rin shrugged. Shirushi nodded, and didn't ask any further.

Rin smiled to herself as she followed Shirushi into the waiting room. This was something she liked about Shirushi- She didn't get all up in your face, asking too many questions. She'd let you talk when you felt like it.

Shirushi, by contrast to Rin, had a similar outfit she had on last time Rin saw her- A white, button-up shirt, stylish black jacket over it and a short skirt, plus dark leggings and pointy boots. Rin's eyes flicked over Shirushi, conceding that she looked like a twenty-something model who just happened to have come into the Arena, except for a small blonde head poking out of Shirushi's jacket pocket.

Rin had been a little disgruntled to learn she had missed Sorako's fight (she blamed that prick Kado Yatsukoji) and that Sorako had won. But Shirushi had pointed out that apparently Reiko had pretty much bullied Aimi into playing Angelic Layer, but Sorako had actually been playing for a while, and had in fact been the one to introduce it to Reiko.

"Who're you up against, anyway?" Rin asked casually, flopping onto one of the squashy yellow seats and staring up at Shirushi.

"His name is Makoto Kukenime." Replied Shirushi. "His angel is named Rafe, apparently."

"That's a weird name." Rin muttered, tossing her head to get her fringe out of her face. Shirushi looked over at Rin.

"You cut your hair, I see."

"Oh...yeah."

Rin had forgotten her DIY hair-treatment. She fingered one of her bangs self-consciously, but Shirushi's gaze seemed merely interested then confused or scornful.

"I like the length," Shirushi suddenly said, surprising Rin. "It makes your cheekbones stand out."

"Thanks." Rin replied slowly, feeling pleased with herself.

Then the speakers suddenly came to life.

"Attention please! Would Makoto Kukenime and Shirushi Watakonabe pleased enter the stage! The match is about to begin!"

"Well, kick some ass for me." Rin called to Shirushi as the people in the waiting room filed out. Shirushi just smiled her mysterious smile.

"I will."

* * *

I know, I know, I've done it again! I ended the chapter before writing a fight! I didn't mean to, but I just seem to find it easier to section them off. Oh well!

Just as a note, Makoto's last name is pronounced Kook-eh-nee-meh. I wonder if you can guess who he is? (Prolly not, since my hints aren't that good.)

Anyway, I'll be back...with the next chapter!


	8. Sorako's confession

Hello, readers!

Well, Chapter 10 is up! Amazing! Just a THANKS to everyone who stuck with Rin until this far. Also, this one is fairly long for your wait.

Enjoy!

* * *

"And now! The seventh match of the Tournament! Shirushi Watakonabe and Makoto Kukineime!"

A roar erupted from the crowd. Rin, who was seated near the back of the crowd, was watching closely. Shirushi looked utterly calm, her sand-coloured eyes almost impassive as she surveyed her opponent. By contrast, Makoto, a purple-haired boy, was grinning and waving to the audience. Rin could just make out a small thing in his hand, but she couldn't see it completely. She had an odd feeling she knew Kukineime from somewhere, but she couldn't remember.

"Rafe, with blazing sun and ocean spray, secure victory!"

Makoto threw in his Angel; the layer rippling as the tiny body entered it. Rin was slightly surprised to see that Rafe was actually a boy Angel, since it was much more common for female Angels to fight, especially in low-standard tournaments.

_I guess it's because a lot of AL players are girls._ Mused Rin; _you'd wanna make an Angel your own gender. _

Rafe, as well as being male, was quite an odd-looking Angel. A scruffy mess of chocolate-brown hair sat atop his head, and his eyes were peach-tinted. His outfit looked like something an actual person might wear; An orange T-shirt with dark green palm-tree silhouette's hung, unbuttoned, on the Angel's torso, and on the lower half were some simple black cargo's. Rafe looked like he had just been to the beach, rather then about to fight.

Shirushi raised her arm,

"Flow through the passage of time! Scatter, Ayumi!"

Shirushi allowed Ayumi to fall into the layer. The Angel slowly flipped forwards, her eyes closed. Rin found herself leaning forward in her seat.

Ayumi landed perfectly on her toes, one foot tilted back, toes pointing to the ground. Shirushi moved Ayumi into a defensive stance.

Ayumi's hair was blonde, just reaching her chest, her long fringe sweeping over lonely grey eyes. She wore a baby-blue dress that flowed down her legs, but in long tassels, the stripes of blue connected together halfway down these strips with a see-through green material. A small slit in the dress exposed the spot just above Ayumi's midriff. On her hands she wore elbow-length gloves that were tan-coloured, except from the small purple lines that ran across it. On her feet she wore tan boots. A pale pink ribbon sat on her back, fastened there with straps around her shoulders, as if she was wearing a pair of wings.

Rin had to admit Shirushi had style.

* * *

"ANGELIIIC...FIGHT!"

To Rin's surprise, at these words, neither Angel moved. The crowd seemed to have been expecting this, since a sudden hush descended over the audience. Ayumi's gaze was cold and strangely intense for a doll, whereas Rafe's gaze looked relaxed.

Then, it happened. Makoto, apparent by his fidgeting, had grown bored of just exchanging staring with his opponent, and Rafe shifted forwards, with surprising speed for such a tall Angel.

Ayumi watched Rafe's rapid approach. Rin's eyes slowly drifted up to where Shirushi was sitting. Shirushi's arms were folded, her posture serious but deadly calm, displaying none of the fidgeting that Makoto was. Then, Rafe's fist came flying out to hit Ayumi-

Ayumi, who had been standing with a similar rigid authority to Shirushi, suddenly lunged forwards and seized Rafe's arm. A second later, the tiny blonde Angel had sent Rafe slamming into the floor, actually flipping him over so his back hit the floor with a resounding crack.

Rin's eyes flicked up to the damage meter, and saw that no less then half of Rafe's points go shooting down. The crowd groaned in surprise.

"AN ASTOUNDING MANEOUVRE BY AYUMI!" the commentator boasted, pointing an enthusiastic finger at the blue-clad Angel. "Rafe will be feeling that tomorrow!"

"How the fuck did you do that, Shirushi?" Rin questioned quietly to herself, staring with a growing feeling of both admiration and envy for Shirushi.

The crowd was shrieking, and Shirushi's eyes had not shifted from the Layer. Rafe had got up by now, and he and Ayumi were exchanging blows. They weren't really chipping all that much damage off, but it was certainly flashy. And one wrong move could lead to a devastating mistake.

Then, Rafe suddenly stopped hitting. A blow from Ayumi's fist just grazed his cheek, sending the Angel staggering back slightly. But then Rafe darted forwards. Ayumi raised her arms to block, but at the last moment, Rafe darted to the left, hitting Ayumi in the back of her neck with the flat of his hand. Ayumi was sent sprawling, her splaying about over her face as she lay on the ground.

Rin watched, her nails subconsciously digging into the arms of her seat as Rafe slowly approached, and Rin could have sworn the damn Angel was smiling.

Ayumi leapt up, just as Rafe ducked down to kick. The blonde Angel crouched, sending her foot spinning out, knocking Rafe off-balance. Then, the strangest thing happened.

As Rafe fell back, Ayumi stood up, slowly. Her hand flew back with a snap, hitting Rafe squarely in the chest. But a split second later, she appeared behind him, hitting him in the back, the side, and the cheek. Blows from the grey-eyed Angel rained from all directions, Rafe's body never hitting the ground. Then, equally as suddenly as she began, Ayumi stopped once again, this time standing directly before Rafe.

The Angel swayed slightly on the spot, before aiming another punch at Ayumi's abdomen. Ayumi waited, then her own fist darted in, striking Rafe in the exact same spot as before. Rafe, stunned, fell back, his head dipping out of the layer, and clattering to the floor.

"AND IT'S A VICTORY FOR AYUMI! That was her infamous 'Scattering petal' attack! We are lucky to witness that, ladies and gentlemen!"

* * *

The lobby was surprisingly empty, as Rin came trudging out.

She had wanted to meet up with Shirushi and congratulate her on the match, but unfortunately for Shirushi, she had been bombarded by a horde of fans, most of them wanting autographs, so Rin had decided to wait outside for her.

"Hope she doesn't take all day." Rin grumbled, sitting down in one of the squishy green sofas.

Bored, she directed her attention toward one of the large T.V's that seemed to be all over the building.

With a little jolt, Rin realised that the T.V she was looking at was re-playing the matches from yesterday, and this one was of Reiko Jubi's friend, Sorako Kushima. Her opponent was sitting with his arms folded.

"Rock, pound you enemies into submission!" he shouted, throwing his grey-haired Angel with unnecessary force.

"_Rock._" Rin muttered disdainfully, watching the bulky Angel pose after he landed, "What a dumbass."

Sorako raised her Angel in both hands, as though she was about to strike the front of her platform. Her eyes were closed in concentration, before she opened them.

"On carefree wings, sky, lend me your power! Tsumi!" cried Sorako, throwing out her Angel.

The figure went gliding through the barrier, back flipping clumsily onto the stage, before spinning around to face her opponent, sky blue eyes flashing almost mischievously.

Tsumi had green hair that was tied as a high ponytail to the left of her head, the tip of it just sweeping her chin. Like Ayumi, Tsumi's hair looked less clean-cut and more pointed at the ends. On her body she wore a lime-green kimono, which was sleeveless and just fell short of her knees. It was tied with a huge red obi. On her arms, she wore purple gloves that nearly reached her shoulder, a pink flare around the end. On her feet, she seemed to be wearing blue platform trainers with pink straps.

The crowd let out a few howls of anticipation as the match begun, Tsumi racing across the screen, kimono flapping, and Rin saw a peek of denim shorts under her clothes. Tsumi leapt up into the air, before kicking Rock on the nose, then flipped backwards, dodging Rock furiously swiping at her with his fists.

"Rin Furishine?"

Rin turned, and was surprised (for lack of a better word) to see none other then Sorako standing there, wearing an oddly serious expression. Rin raised her eyebrows at her, and said somewhat aggressively,

"Yeah?"

"I...I want to talk to you."

Rin did her best not to look too surprised. Sorako stared back at her, her gaze steady.

_Talk?_ Repeated Rin inside her head, throwing Sorako a suspicious glare before saying, somewhat caustically, "Oh yeah? Why?"

"Can we go somewhere?" said Sorako, evading the question.

Rin shrugged nonchalantly then got up lazily as Sorako began to lead her off. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, Rin scowled at Sorako's back as the two of them walked. Rin had a vague suspicion that Sorako was leading her into some kind of trap, maybe a prank that was being orchestrated by Reiko.

But there was something about the way Sorako had spoken earlier, which piqued Rin's interest. She seemed caged. _Shifty_, even, and Rin had an odd hunch that was stronger then her first that Sorako had a bone she desperately wanted to pick with Rin, Reiko or no Reiko.

So Rin's curiosity burned even more strongly when she found that Sorako had lead her into a quiet training room, the miniature layers humming invitingly. Sorako still didn't explain anything, but instead drifted casually over to a table, flopping down in the seat and picking up a headset.

Rin, nonplussed, sat down, pulling Iolanthe slowly out of her pocket as Sorako threw Tsumi lightly into the Layer. The Angel began twirling on every alternate step, almost as though she was bored. Rin placed Iolanthe onto the Layer, letting the mauve-haired Angel walk in. She was expecting Tsumi to attack, but Tsumi merely began what looked like a small dance routine. Rin had to admit that she was slightly impressed by how Sorako seemed to know it by heart.

"So, what do you want?" Rin sighed, slightly snappishly, eventually deigning to make Iolanthe do handstand.

"It's about Reiko, kind of." Sorako replied, focusing on the table. "And Kohaku. And you as well."

"Go on." Rin replied with a raised eyebrow.

Sorako shifted, the glittering pattern on her blue T-shirt sparkling as she slouched.

"Look, I know we didn't get off to a good start." Sorako began, using a similarly confident voice to before, even though she still kept her eyes fixed firmly on Tsumi's giddy spinning, "And I know you and Reiko really don't like each other, but...well, it wasn't our idea, mine and Aimi's, to suddenly be your enemies. And the thing is I don't want to do it, either."

Rin stared at her, and Sorako finally looked up, her expression slightly guilty, but nonetheless determined.

"Wait, what?" Rin asked, forgetting to make her question sound scathing and unconvinced. "You're saying you and Reiko...had a fight or something?"

"Not exactly." frowned Sorako, looking over at the door as though she expected Reiko to come bursting in at any moment, "But I've just had enough of her. It was her idea to start on you that day, you know. It was because you called her fat ass on the bus, or something-"

"That was her?" repeated Rin, shocked, as she had totally disregarded the incident since then.

Sorako smiled for the first time since Rin had met her.

"Reiko's not the kind of girl who can shrug off a comment like that," she said, slightly mischievously, "I mean, I know I've only known about you for about a week or two, but there's something about you that really pisses her off. It was both your faults on the bus, I guess. Reiko was just being a diva and you were…well, you called her a fat ass, like I said. But, to be honest, I only really went along with it because..."

Rin waited, uncertain of whether to be annoyed or impressed at such a blunt opening. Sorako ran her fingers through her short, tufty hair.

"I don't really have that many friends." Sorako admitted, looking at Rin directly in the face. She was blushing slightly, and Rin couldn't help feeling a grudging respect that Sorako had expressed her weaknesses so openly, "And, well, Kohaku kind of pisses me off, actually. I only joined their high school last term and Reiko was actually kind of nice the first day I met her. But I don't want to pick on people just because my friends don't like them. It's stupid."

"It's hard for me to believe that, you know." Rin answered back, forgetting temporarily about Iolanthe, "I mean, how do I know you're not just going to fake being my friend so you can dish the dirt on me to Reiko? Not that I care, but it would still be a bloody pain."

"You mean like what Kohaku's doing?" shot back Sorako, folding her arms over her cleavage.

"What?!" Rin yelled, shocked. "What the hell do you mean?"

"You don't really know Kohaku that well, either." Sorako told Rin, now looking a trifle uncomfortable. "I bet she's told you all about how Reiko dumped her as a friend and how she started acting like her big sister, Michiko. But the thing is, Kohaku didn't really ever try to make new friends after Reiko ditched her. She was always hanging around, acting like if she just smiled and put up with whatever Reiko said to her, Reiko would take her back."

Rin couldn't think of anything to say to that, so Sorako carried on,

"So I'm guessing that Kohaku wanted to be friends with you, but then she found out Reiko didn't like her, so she decided that could be how Reiko would talk to her again."

"How do you _know_ that?" demanded Rin, unsure of whether she was angrier with Kohaku or Sorako, "If it's just a guess?"

"I can't think of any other reason why Kohaku would invite Reiko over to her house." replied Sorako. "Aimi told me that she went there yesterday after you'd stormed off at the end of your match. Aimi told me, since Reiko was supposed to go shopping with us afterwards."

There was a tiny pause.

"What's her connection to Yatsukoji?" Rin burst out before she could curb the question.

"Who?"

"Kado. Kado Yatsukoji." persisted Rin, staring intently at Sorako.

"I don't know a Yatsukoji." replied Sorako, looking confused.

Rin grunted, Sorako's expression making it clear that she was telling the truth. She had no idea who Kado was. But that meant, maybe Reiko didn't either. Rin shook her head, feeling frustrated and the confusion rippling in her stomach, angry and only knowing half the reason. Sorako sighed.

"Look, I'm not telling you this because I want to do Reiko's bidding or whatever." started Sorako, uncomfortably, "But I just thought you should know. _I'd _want to know, anyway. And since I don't want to hang out with Reiko anymore, I guess Kohaku can take my place if it's true."

Sorako stood up, pulling her helmet off and picking Tsumi off the table.

"Anyway, I should go see if they've updated the contestant list." she muttered, "I'll see you around, Furishine."

But Rin had made up her mind.

"Oi,"

Sorako turned to see Rin grinning up at her in a slightly devious way before stating casually,

"Call me Rin."

* * *

"Hey, Shirushi!"

Shirushi turned, having finally fended off the last of her fans, to see Rin coming towards her, like a walking glow stick, and, bizarrely, pulling Sorako Kushima behind her.

"Oh, Rin." Shirushi said by way of greeting. She stared at Sorako, before turning to Rin,

"Why is-"

"This is Sorako." Rin explained, allowing the two of them to swap a quick greeting before turning back to Shirushi, "She's gonna be our friend from now on. Now, who wants to go get a coffee?"

* * *

"I can't believe you're treating us." Sorako said to Rin twenty minutes later.

The three girls were all sitting in a parlour, Rin having contrarily decided that it was 'too damn hot for coffee' and dragged them to somewhere entirely different.

"Consider yourself on probation." shrugged Rin, noisily slurping her drink. "I'll pay for this, then you do me a favour later."

"Sounds like a plan." Sorako replied, slightly taken aback by this odd code of reciprocity. She turned to Shirushi; "Did you get a trial, too?"

"No." answered Shirushi calmly, spooning some ice cream into her mouth, before adding with a wry smile, "But I never broke ranks with one of Rin's rivals before, so I'm more neutral in that respect."

"Ahh..." agreed Sorako, awkwardly. Then she turned to Rin, resting her chin on her hand. "But Rin, what're you gonna do about Kohaku? If it's true, I mean."

"Enact revenge, duh." Rin smirked, taking another noisy slurp from her straw, a woman sitting behind her casting her a slightly disgruntled look, which Rin was utterly oblivious to, "Right now, I'm torn between spraying 'I am Reiko's bitch' on her front door, or just punching her in the mouth."

"I think they are both bordering slightly on illegal or anti-social." remarked Shirushi, placing her spoon back in her sundae.

"Anyway, you wouldn't be able to get to her unless she was at school." Sorako chipped in, biting into her cone, "Why don't you go, anyway?"

"I only just moved in with my aunt." replied Rin haughtily, closing her eyes and chewing the tip of her straw, before loudly stirring the ice in her drink, "Why should I bother signing in for school when it's still a freakin' holiday?"

"Fair enough."

In truth, Rin had completely forgotten about school. On account of her inconsistent attendance and recalcitrant attitude, she rarely paid attention to the amount of time she spent in school. To her, it was simply like having a legal and extended skipping session. One that she had privately hoped would last long enough to go utterly forgotten.

"By the way, Rin, I received this after I finished the match." Shirushi added, handing Rin a slip of paper. Rin took it looking puzzled. "It's a roster of the next round of matches."

Rin scanned it, frowning a little.

"Uh, if this is yours, why are you giving it to me?" questioned Rin. Shirushi pointed to a spot near the bottom-left of the paper.

"Look."

And there, in clear black-and-white, it read,

_Rin Furishine_.

And an arrow that connected it caught Rin's eye, which she followed until she came across the next name.

_Chisachi Akiyama._


	9. Loss and Revelations

Hey y'all! I finally got this chapter down! (Up?) Sorry for the long update wait. Thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews, btw! (Incidentally, did the Sorako thing surprise you?)

Rin vs. Chisachi time!

Enjoy!

* * *

Rin felt like she was having some kind of out-of-body experience.

She seemed to be able to see all over the Arena, even behind her. It was like she wasn't even looking through her own eyes anymore, but had just taken a step outside of herself. It was surreal.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen!" boomed the commentator, waving his arm in the air, "It's time for the eighth match of the tournament! Chisachi Akiyama versus Rin Furishine!"

A roar swelled from the crowd, and Rin fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair, her stomach feeling strangely hollow.

Chisachi smiled from across the Layer, holding Roza in one hand.

Rin barely heard her as she threw her doll into the Layer, and lifted up Iolanthe gingerly, the way you might pick up a corkscrew. She threw Iolanthe, the command leaving her mouth automatically, so that Rin barely even registered that she was even talking.

The two Angels steadily rose, swaying slightly as they stood up.

Iolanthe watched Roza, her body posture stiff. Roza stood quite still, a friendly expression on her face. The crowd's screaming seemed to dim slightly in their anticipation. Roza bent slightly forwards, raising her arms in a defensive pose, her movements fluid and relaxed.

A muscle in Rin's jaw twitched.

And they began.

Iolanthe kicked, her leg arcing high as she swung at Roza, who hopped backwards, her hair swaying about her face as she moved. Almost with glee, the Angel dashed forward, attempting to hit Iolanthe in the forehead. Iolanthe blocked, forming an X with her forearms. Roza landed neatly, a leaping back up and aiming a kick. Iolanthe ducked backwards, balancing for a split second on her hands as her back arched. Flipping onto her feet again, Iolanthe tried to jab Roza with her fist, which she dodged.

"This is certainly something rare, folks!" announced the commentator, "Roza hasn't had such a good work out in ages! I hope Iolanthe is able to keep up!"

"Fuck you." Rin muttered acidly, but the commentator barely heard her.

Shirushi was watching the steady damage chipping from the balcony where duellists could stand, her expression sombre.

"Rin..." murmured Shirushi, her eyes following Iolanthe's strangely graceful movements to struggle against Roza's energetic but controlled movements, "Rin, be careful."

Rin, meanwhile, was becoming uncomfortably aware of the patches of sweat forming under her arms. Keeping up with Roza was beginning to wear her out, and Iolanthe's usual approach of hitting and dodging was only working with limited success. Roza had her guard up, but she was clearly much more used to biding her time then Iolanthe, and she had a much better control of her movements.

"Shit..." hissed Rin, "This is..."

For a split second, she flicked her eyes up to Chisachi.

The kid was actually smiling, goddammit. While she knew enough to keep her eye on Iolanthe, she was actually enjoying herself. And in Rin's mind, that meant she was just toying with her.

Rin scowled.

"Oh, it's on, brat," she muttered savagely. "Now or never."

Iolanthe, who had just spun out of the way of a kick from Roza, suddenly lunged forwards, hooking her arm around Roza's neck, her other hand pushing the pink-haired Angel's head forward.

Chisachi looked surprised.

But just for a second.

Before Rin even knew what was happening, Iolanthe suddenly hit the floor, Roza having flipped her to the ground. But Chisachi wasn't done. Roza, with her hands clasped firmly around Iolanthe's middle, dropped hard onto her knees, a resounding thud echoing throughout the Arena as the pink-haired Angel crashed onto the Layer, Iolanthe's head hitting the floor with a painful sounding crunch.

Rin froze.

Slowly, her eyes travelled up to the meter suspended above the Angels. And she watched her, entire face rigid, as all of Iolanthe's remaining hit points vanished from the screen.

"And it's a victory for Roza!"

And all Rin could do as the crowd cheered and Chisachi bowed her head modestly, was sit and stare in shock at where Iolanthe's little body lay, her mind in a strange sort of numb shock.

_"I lost...?"  
_

* * *

Rin was running.

Her breath and footsteps seemed so loud in the deserted corridor, but she kept running anyway. A stitch was developing near her ribs, and her lungs were beginning to ache, but she didn't care. She wasn't even thinking about her asthma.

I lost...

"Dammit..." wheezed Rin, finally coming to halt in a corridor comprised of windows, leaning against one and taking a deep, shuddering breaths.

Rummaging in her bag, she pulled out her inhaler, her hand shaking slightly as she pressed on the button. She puffed on it like it was the last pocket of oxygen left in the world.

"You know, you really shouldn't run around so much with your condition."

Rin slowly lifted her head, her eyes flashing dangerously as she found Mihara standing to her left, his arms folded slightly.

"Who asked you?" coughed Rin, her throat feeling strangely tight. "Go away."

Mihara didn't seem too offended by Rin's command, and knowing that she was currently vulnerable, he moved a little closer, but Rin kept her bottle-green gaze firmly on him as she took a few more puffs of the inhaler, feeling resentful as she did so. She was grateful that nobody else could see her right now.

"I can see your attitude hasn't changed a lot," remarked Mihara calmly, "But I suppose in the current circumstances, you're probably entitled to feeling like this."

"I thought I told you to go away!" snarled Rin, her breathing slowly returning to normal. "I'm not interested in your stupid opinion."

"You lost your fight, didn't you? Against Chisachi Akiyama?"

"What of it?" shrugged Rin, slouching mutinously against the glass, feeling calmer but still angry, "Of course she was gonna win, you dumbass. She's like a superkid."

"If that's the way you feel about it, why did you run off like that?" Mihara replied, watching Rin's expression, which darkened slightly as she stared angrily at the rosebushes outside.

"Dunno. Felt like it." answered the black-haired teenager, jerking her head.

Mihara resisted the urge to grab Rin by the shoulders and force her to look at him. She just had to make everything more work then it actually was, but he supposed that not everybody could be like Ohjiro. Perhaps that was the price he got for raising such a well-mannered kid; dealing with people like Rin proved an unnecessary challenge.

"Why do you have to be so difficult?" grumbled Mihara loudly, and Rin shot a nasty glare in his direction, "Don't you understand it yet?"

"You see, this is why you're an asshole." Rin commented, equally as loud as Mihara had just been, "You always have to make me work everything out all the time. _'Don't you understand yet_?', _'Oh, you're showing an interest now, aren't you?_', '_Blah blah blah, I'm a perverted weirdo with nothing better to do then stick my nose into people's buisi-'_"

"I've got your point." Mihara told Rin, doing his best to keep his voice under control, "Honestly, you're so bad-tempered. But you're changing the subject again. Don't you understand why you lost to Akiyama?"

"Uh, I just SAID, you idiot, she's a genius, and-"

"That's not the reason, and you know it."

Rin stopped, surprised by the suddenly authoritative tone in Mihara's voice. She finally looked at him, her eyebrows raised. Mihara pointed at her.

"You lost because you didn't believe in Iolanthe. The bond between you and your Angel is not strong enough for you to fight against people like Akiyama without you working together with your Angel. Why can't you understand that? Iolanthe isn't just a toy, nor is any other Angel that is given an appearance and name. You have to put your faith in Iolanthe if you ever want to move forwards."

Rin stared at him, and for the first time, there was no anger, surprise or any such emotion in her face. There was just a strange kind of blankness that Mihara found much more disturbing then Rin's temper ever could have.

"Well, aren't you impressive when you're angry?" remarked Rin, and laughed, pushing herself off the window, swivelling around to face Mihara, "Jeez, you really had me going for a minute!"

"What do you mean?" demanded Mihara, staring.

"A grown man, telling me I gotta 'Put faith in my Angel'? Yeah, sure, I'll do that as soon as I have a long, meaningful chat with my Barbie doll's about my life." snickered Rin, staring at him, "I mean, I figured you'd wanna endorse your products and stuff, but isn't that going too far?"

"Oh, really?" Mihara retorted, folding his arms, "And who's the one who's been playing Angelic Layer ever since she came to Tokyo? And even before then!"

"Now wait just a minute!" Rin snarled, jabbing a finger at him, "The whole reason I started playing Angelic Layer was 'cause of you! You and that stupid bet!"

"You're the one who made that bet, Rin, and all because you wanted a free meal!" blasted Mihara, "Yes, I made that doll of you, but look what's come of it! You're actually playing it now. It's nothing to do with the bet any longer."

"You never SAID!" shouted Rin, stamping her foot, "You never told me when I could stop playing! It's...it's manipulation, that's what it is! How the hell would you know how I feel? I lost! So what? I don't CARE!"

"You do care." replied Mihara evenly, "And that's why you ran away. I understand that you're frustrated, Rin, but you-"

"Shut up."

The venom in Rin's voice made Mihara stop. She was staring at him with a look of pure contempt in her face; Iolanthe clenched in her fist.

"You don't know anything." Rin informed Mihara, more calmly, but she was staring at his feet, "You don't understand one damn thing about how I feel. Do you think I just hate Angelic Layer for no reason? You can't just go sticking your nose into other people's lives and then pretend to know anything about how they feel or why they feel the way they do! Okay?!"

Rin suddenly backed off; looking surprised at her own outburst. Then, she suddenly snorted, and it was like she had completely forgotten what she had just said.

"But, uh, I'll think about that, Prof." Rin said to Mihara, who was frowning in confusion. But now, Rin was smirking. "Yeah, I really have to connect with my Angel. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do. Like not listening to you, for example."

Rin then brushed past Mihara, who watched her go with incredulity plastered all over his face.

"Oh, and by the way." added Rin, and Mihara couldn't see her face as she had just paused, as she was about to turn the corner, "Running off is kind of my instinct, if you will. So, next time you decide to analyse me, put that into consideration, okay? Bye."

And next second, she was gone.

* * *

Back at Kata's, however, Rin's shock had worn off, to be replaced with anger.

"STUPID." she seethed, kicking random boxes full of clothes around her bedroom.

Kata and Yukiko were out, and they were due back any minute, which is why Rin had decided to use her time wisely and vent while she was alone and had time to hide anything that she broke.

"Fucking...Angelic...Layer...and...it's...dumbass...rules!"

Rin gave the box she was currently kicking another good boot, before giving in to her own exasperation and flopping down onto her bed, ignoring the mattress squeak in protect.

"You need to put faith in your Angel," Rin mimicked in a high-pitched voice, "SCREW that."

But as she punched her pillow again, she hit the black metal of the bed frame. Squealing, Rin stuck her fist into her mouth, as a rather awkward memory came surfacing to her mind...

_"That was a good fight, Miss Rin." Chisachi Akiyama smiled. Rin simply stood there with her arms folded, her face as rigid as if she was wearing a mask._

_"Whatever." Rin grunted, throwing her headset down so hard on the Layer that it bounced, but barely anybody noticed._

_"It's a shame you and Iolanthe haven't made a strong connection yet." remarked Akiyama thoughtfully, "If you had, I think you could have beaten me."_

_The reporters were coming. Rin turned to go._

_"Oh, here!" Chisachi suddenly exclaimed._

_Rin turned to see Akiyama holding Iolanthe, who's head lolled slightly onto her chest. Chisachi looked concerned._

_"I think I might have damaged her by accident during that last attack." Chisachi began, holding out Iolanthe to Rin; "It shouldn't cost too much to repair, but my advice is-"_

_Before Chisachi could complete her sentence, however, Rin snatched Iolanthe out of her hand so fast that her elbow made a popping sound with the movement._

_"I-" began Rin, slowly, a shadow falling over the upper half of her face, her voice heavy, "-don't need any advice from YOU."_

_And before Chisachi could answer her, Rin spun on her heel and ran down the corridor, her footsteps pounding on the tiles as she ran, Iolanthe clenched in her fist.  
_

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID." Rin ground out again, opting to pound her feet into the mattress. "Do they all SERIOUSLY believe in that shit? They're dolls, for fuck's sake! Stupid little dolls!"

Rin glared at Iolanthe, whom she had practically tossed onto her desk.

"God, wouldn't it be great if somebody won, only to turn around and go, 'Oh, by the way, Angels aren't real. Just as an update.'" Rin smirked, apparently speaking to Iolanthe, and "Then maybe all these people would _get a grip_."

And, suddenly, Rin felt an idea beginning to form in her mind.

A horrible idea.

"Rin!" Kata's voice suddenly rang out from downstairs, the door opening, and "We're back! Did you have a good day?"

"Oh, yeah!" called Rin, unable to keep her smile off her face, "I had a great day."

* * *

Uh-oh! Is Rin about to make the biggest mistake of her life?

Keep reading!


	10. Kata's decision

A few days after Rin's dramatic exit from her Angelic Layer match, Kura called. Yukiko had been hogging quite a lot of the phone time, eager to hear from her mother. Rin supposed that it was a bigger adjustment for her little sister then her- but little kids were amazing. They just seemed able to adapt to anything.

"So," Kura had begun, somewhat anxiously when Rin finally got a turn on the phone, "How are things?"

Rin had hesitated, then told her mother a few choice, not very extraordinary things. She certainly had no intention of telling her about Angelic Layer. So far, she was relieved to find that Yukiko had not mentioned Rin's strange behaviour regarding Iolanthe to Aunt Kata. Then again, she suspected Yukiko was well used to Rin's mood swings by now. Aunt Kata had not bothered to question Rin's whereabouts during the day- She seemed preoccupied most of the time, and it seemed that she trusted Rin enough not to do anything dangerous.

In fact, that was one of the things Rin liked about living with Kata- no interrogations. Which is why Rin was so surprised when Kura's voice abruptly broke into her reverie.

"-Coming back home soon."

"What?!" spluttered Rin, a surge of panic gripping her suddenly. "What did you say?"

"Haven't you been listening?" sighed Kura, but she didn't sound particularly irritated, "I'm saying I think you and Yukiko will probably be able to come home now."

"Go _home_?" repeated Rin, her voice accidentally stretching out the 'o' in home. "Why?"

"Because it's where you live, Rin!" Kura replied, sounding genuinely surprised. "Yukiko said you seem 'less cranky' over at Kata's, but it was never supposed to be _permanent_."

"But mom..." Rin said, a whine beginning to creep into her voice, "I don't want to move back in now. I actually kinda like it here."

Rin paused, deciding to go in for the money shot.

"It's nice to have _friends_ again."

"Oh, honey," Kura sighed, and Rin couldn't help smirking that that had worked. "Put Kata back on, would you?"

"Aunt Kata, phone!" Rin called, letting the receiver flop backwards.

Kata scooped it up, flapping her hand at Rin, who rolled her eyes but took the hint and left, grabbing a low-fat brownie as the kitchen door swung shut behind her. Kata sighed, marvelling at just how much food Rin seemed to stuff into her mouth daily without seeming to put on an ounce.

"So, I'm assuming you haven't told Rin yet." Kura commented into the phone, perching on the counter.

She cocked her head, listening as Kura replied.

"I know," Kata cut across Kura, who was rambling her reasons, "But it isn't fair on her, or on Yukiko. You can't keep it a secret forever."

"I know." Kura's voice answered, sounding defeated, "I will. Soon."

This was punctuated by a sigh.

"Rin doesn't want to come home." Kura said, and Kata could practically see her running her hand through her short chestnut-coloured hair.

"Don't take it personally." Kata replied, ever the rational one, "It's not about you- I really think it's due to her actually finding a productive way to spend her time. Coming here was a good decision."

"I didn't realise that Rin was doing so well," Kura explained, "She never tells me anything. It's just that I've felt this...distance between us for a while now. I used to think it was just because she's a teenager, but she just seems to be so _angry_ at everything. And Yukiko could feel it as well, I can tell. Children respond to that kind of thing. I don't know...I wish I could tell Rin what she needs to hear, but half the time I'm not sure what that even _is_."

"It hasn't been easy," Kata told Kura softly, "For either of you. It's been very difficult, I know that, but I don't think Rin has come to terms with it yet. But she won't find moving on any easier if you lie to her for much longer."

"I never wanted to lie to her," Kura gasped, a sad, muffled gasp.

"Perhaps that was a strong word." Kata amended, even though actively not telling the truth was still, to her, a lie. "But that's probably how it will look. I know you can do this, Kura."

"Thanks, Kata," Kura said, and Kata was relieved to hear Kura's voice sounding slightly happier. "You always tell me what I want to hear."

"I'm glad," replied Kata in her smooth, calm voice.

But, she couldn't stop a voice, glacier-cold, whisper softly in her head,

_You're a coward. When are you gonna tell her what she _needs_ to hear?_

* * *

"YOU THINK I SHOULD WHAT?!"

This loud outburst came, unsurprisingly, from Rin.

"I think you should go to school here," Kata replied calmly, slicing the cucumber with ease, the kitchen lights bouncing off the blade off her knife. Rin scowled at Kata, folding her arms defensively.

"What are you, insane?" Rin asked her aunt, "Didn't my mother already say she wanted me and Yukiko to come back? What's the point of sending me to some other crappy school?"

"Kura reconsidered," Kata answered easily, hardly fazed by Rin's bluster. She threw a handful of chopped onion into the large, flat pan currently on top of the oven, "You said yourself you don't want to go home, right?"

"I didn't realise anybody would take me seriously!" said Rin, "Plus, isn't it a burden on you, having us around here? Yukiko's not even really related to you!"

"Kura and I are very close, Rin," replied Kata, slightly surprised at Rin bringing Yukikio's parentage up, however indirectly, "It wouldn't make a difference if neither of you were related to me by blood, you're still my family. And if you want to live here, how do you expect to convince your mother to let you if you just lounge around the house all day?"

"Doesn't mean I want to go to school," Rin muttered petulantly, though she could see she was fighting a losing battle.

Also, the fact that Kata was letting Rin yell and complain without turning a hair seemed to console her somewhat, because she in return refrained from screaming.

"Look, I know that you and authority figures don't exactly...mesh." Kata amended, as the wok hissed, steam rising gently up, "But you have to go to school, okay? It's the law, and you need to go if you want to do anything in your adult life."

Kata's tone was amiable, but when she cast a glance at Rin, Rin looked unusually disheartened. Her eyes were concentrated on the side of the fridge, and her brow was furrowed.

"I _get_ that it's the law." Rin muttered, directing the words at the floor, "But I'm not good at anything. That's why I don't see the point in going."

"Rin-" began Kata, surprised, but Rin shrugged, tilted her chin up and slouched out of the kitchen, the moment gone.

It was as if Rin had not admitted this vulnerability at all. She was back to being her typical endearingly arrogant self, all within the space of a few seconds.

Extraordinary.

* * *

"They're making you go to school?" repeated Sorako, puzzled, staring at Rin across the table. She looked pretty in a tight magenta T-shirt and flared jeans, her hair artistically tousled.

Shirushi sat beside Rin, looking as poised and cool, as usual. Rin, by contrast, was wearing a long T-shirt with neon green and neon pink splashes across it, combined with blue leggings and grey boots. Rin had basically ordered Shirushi and Sorako via emails to meet her up in one of the more contemporary cafes, stating it was an emergency. Nonplussed, they had both complied, and now were discussing the latest turn of events.

"Uh-huh," Rin muttered gloomily, sipping at her drink,"Your school, as a matter of fact."

"That's awesome!" burst out Sorako, making a couple of people glance her way, eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Keep your voice down, please, Sorako," sighed Shirushi, sipping her cappuccino in a dignified manner.

"Yeah, and how the hell is it 'awesome'?" Rin snapped, wondering why Sorako was choosing today to be so slow, "Didn't I just finish explaining why it's NOT awesome?"

"Yeah, but now that means you don't have to move back in, right?" Sorako replied, nibbling the edge of her chocolate muffin in a smug way, "You spent a while talking about how your mother's boyfriend is an ass. And now you'll be able to talk to Kohaku, right?"

"Hmm, suppose so," Rin shrugged, trying to hide her sceptical expression. After all, she still wasn't one hundred percent convinced about all that just yet.

Honestly, Rin had been trying not to think about Kohaku or Reiko too much. One of the things Rin had liked about skipping school was she didn't have to put up with all the inane gossip and all those complicated relationships between people. She had always seen herself as above trivial things like boyfriends and backstabbing friends.

"Actually, Rin, there is something I've been meaning to ask you," added Shirushi, suddenly looking thoughtfully over at Rin, "Have to seen the Angelic Layer final results?"

"Whaddaya mean?" inquired Rin, raising her eyebrows, "I haven't been to the Stadium for a few days now."

Shirushi dug what looked like a folded map out of her pocket, then unfolded it and lay it on the table, smoothing it out with her hand as she did so. Rin leant forward, scanning it with her green eyes.

"What the…I've moved to the next tournament?" Rin said, confused. "Really?"

"You completed two matches," Shirushi told Rin. "But in this next tournament, you have to win all your matches. If you lose one, you've lost."

"Huh." Rin said, looking irritated with this piece of news. "That's pretty harsh. I mean, what if you get someone like Reiko trying to fuck with the system again?"

"They'd get disqualified." Chipped in Sorako, "Anyway, you've gotten a lot better since your first match. You can tell."

Rin just snorted at that, before picking up her soda and downing it whole.


	11. The Wrestling Princess

Hello everybody!

It's been a while, eh? Yes, I know I said I'd try to update earlier, but honestly this has been the busiest freakin' year EVER. Essays! Exams! Coursework! Nightmare! And, some of you may have noticed, but while I was writing this chapter, I've been rewriting some of the previous chapters. A few minor changes I feel I should list:

- I have knocked off the 'h' at the end of Rin's last name. It just looked stupid with it on, but I was worried English dubbers wouldn't pronounce it correctly without.

- Leiko's name has been changed to Reiko. Why? Apparently, Leiko isn't a real name, it's just on a lot of lists due to a translation error. (Plus, the original meaning was "arrogant", which seems very 2-D to me now. Not to mention, who'd actually name their kid that?)

- Because of how atrociously short they were, chapters 2-3 and 4-5 have been merged.

I think that's pretty much everything.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"Attention, class!"

Rin felt her insides squirm uncomfortably, like a bed of snakes had been disturbed from their hibernation. The class being spoken to looked up, eyeing Rin with expressions of curiosity, incredulity and, in some cases, polite disinterest. Others were just outright staring.

"This is Rin Furishine," the teacher went on cheerfully, oblivious to Rin surreptitiously shredding her fingers, "She just moved here to this side of Tokyo. Please welcome her into the class!"

"Welcome, Miss Furishine," chimed the class.

"Uh, hi," muttered Rin.

"Rin, why don't you take that empty seat by the window? Sorako tells me she already knows you, so she can show you the ropes later."

Rin nodded reluctantly and made her way to the seat the teacher had indicated, which was middle row, right next to the window. She slumped in her seat, picking at the little polish that was left over on her fingernails. She caught people turning around to stare at her, and glowered at them, making them swivel away again. Sorako shot Rin a sympathetic look before turning back to the front. Luckily for Rin, Sorako was in the next row along, to her left.

The teacher (who introduced himself to Rin as Mr. Sojima) began talking about some kind of ongoing project the class was doing, and Rin promptly began to tune him out. She flipped open her student handbook (which was sent to her in the post) and began doodling on it, eyes occasionally wondering up to the clock, which seemed to be going as slowly as it possibly could.

Rin's day did not improve much after that. Although she at least didn't stick out too much as a new girl, because in this particular high school, students 16 and over could wear what they wanted, she still stuck out as somebody with no fashion sense. Teachers kept telling Rin to, "just do your best," but Rin was not persuaded that this behaviour would last. In a couple of weeks, she was sure, it would return to the old routine of yelling, detention and homework's with red ink scribbled all over it.

It wasn't until lunchtime that Rin finally learned something remotely of use.

"God, there's no need to look so miserable, Rin," Sorako sighed.

She had found Rin tucked away in the cafeteria, a plate of golden, salty fries in front of her, picking at them morosely. Rin snorted vigorously as Sorako slung her pretty blue bag under the table.

"Yeah, that's a good one," Rin said, "I've just come to a new school where I basically don't know any of the work, the place has more corridors then the Taj Mahal and everybody is staring at me like I have three tits. I should be over the fuckin' moon!"

"You'll catch up, sheesh," replied Sorako, not the least bit bothered by Rin's tirade.

"Yeah, whatever." sighed Rin. Then she blinked at Sorako, "And why're you smiling at me like that?"

"I have a match coming up," announced Sorako lethargically, flopping down in her chair and promptly nicked one of Rin's fries.

"You do?" Rin asked, surprised, distracted from the theft of her fries and her general bad mod, "That was quick. Against who?"

"Some guy called Arata Danjo," replied Sorako, wrinkling her pert nose, "I don't know what his Angel is called. I never saw him in the last tournament, though, so I'm not sure how to fight him."

"Can't you look him up or something?" asked Rin in a bored voice.

"I've tried, but there don't seem to be any videos of him," answered Sorako, shrugging. "He's a Creeper."

"A what?"

Sorako sighed at Rin's ignorance, but lifted a finger in the air as she began her explanation;

"A Creeper is a nickname for somebody who just suddenly seems to sneak into the Tournament. You know, like the person that nobody really noticed and turns out to be really good? That type of thing."

"Any other nicknames I should know about?" asked Rin, sarcastically, but Sorako leant back in her char, considering.

"Well, there're Sparklers, people who are really flashy and impressive at first, but they tend to fizzle out quickly. There are Sponges, people who keep getting knocked out of the tournament, but they keep trying anyway. There are Stars, obviously, the people who you can tell are something special and could win. They usually do. I don't remember any more."

"We'll have to ask Shirushi," nodded Rin, finding herself missing her aloof companion, but since she was 19, obviously she was too old for high school now, "She'd know that kind of thing."

"You should hurry and find out who your first fight is. This is a pretty famous tournament, after all." Sorako advised, pulling some grapefruit juice out of her bag and puncturing the hole with a sharp jab from her straw, "You wouldn't want to get booted out right off."

"You're right," Rin agreed, fighting the small, devious smirk that was growing on her face, "I wouldn't."

* * *

"I hope we're not late," Shirushi said, as the doors to the Stadium swooshed open.

"Relax, will you?" scoffed Rin, putting her arms behind her head, "The match starts in, like, five minutes."

Shirushi and Rin headed through the door reserved for Stadium staff and Deus only, where they ascended the now-familiar flight of stairs, lit with a cool bluish glow.

"By the way, d'you know anything about this Arata person?" Rin asked Shirushi, as the two of them took seats near the front of the balcony.

"Not much," replied Shirushi, crossing one knee over the other, "I have heard that his fighting style is somewhat...unconventional. He's quitw a tactical fighter."

"Hold on, isn't he friends with the guy that you-" Rin began to say, but at that moment the lights dimmed slightly, setting up the glow of the Layer.

The crowd let out a roar of excitement, and Rin felt a tingle go shimmying its way up her spine. She had never seen a crowd that seemed so...big. Big, and alive. She supposed that people were much more interested in more professional fights then novice ones, but it was amazing what a change a few more people seemed to make.

"And now! The first match of the new Tournament!" shouted the Commentator, wearing another one of his ridiculously flamboyant suits, "Without further ado, let's say hello to Sorako Kushima and Arata Danjo!"

Sorako raised her arm and waved to the crowd, smiling confidently. Arata merely smirked and adjusted his glasses.

"What a dork," commented Rin snidely.

"Sssh,"

While Rin couldn't see much of him from where she was sitting, Arata Danjo had glasses, a somewhat square jaw and metallic grey hair, swept back. He was wearing black, certainly not a particularly intersting ensemble.

Sorako held up Tsumi.

"On carefree wings, sky, lend me your power! Tsumi!"

She threw Tsumi into the Layer, the Angel slowly landing, first in a sort of one-knee position, then she stood up, the ribbon in her hair and on her obi swaying slightly.

Arata held his Angel tightly in his fist, before calling,

"Buds burst into bloom! Fan the flames, Hime!"

Throwing out his Angel, she spiralled gracefully down to the Layer, landing with a faint clopping noise. Rin goggled at it.

Hime, it appeared, was wearing some kind of bodice-ripper outfit. The highest heels Rin had ever seen decorated her feet, the strappy, glittery kind that most girls could barely walk in, let alone do any fighting this Angel was going to do!

The Angel was wearing what looked like a miniature corset dress, which was so short that it resembled lingerie more then anything. Hime had a lot of honey blonde hair, two particularly zigzag bangs framing her face. Her eyes were slanted and magenta, and the doll was even wearing lipstick. On her body she was wearing a sleeveless coat with a fur collar and rim, the coat a royal purple. Like Reiko's angel, Hime had one a tiara, although hers fitted nicely on her forehead, a ruby decorating it.

"What the _hell_ is that?!" shouted Rin from the balcony, "Some kind of stripper Angel?!"

A few people tittered and glanced up at Rin.

Sorako had a rather disgusted look on her face, and even the commentator looked a bit put out.

"U-uhm..." he stuttered, temporarily at a loss for his usual bravado, "Angelic Fight!"

* * *

Tsumi and Hime's eyes met across the Layer, Hime's a calm, self-assured stare, while Tsumi's eyes seemed to glimmer.

Then, they began.

Hime, as it turned out, was a heavyweight Angel, but she was a lot faster then she looked. No sooner had they begun, she had thrown a punch at Tsumi, using her weight to knock the shorter Angel across the Layer. Tsumi, skidding to a halt near the edge, straightened up, dodging to the side as Hime's foot aimed suddenly for her chin.

"The problem here is that Tsumi may have trouble causing Hime any significant damage," Shirushi said, as Hime turned, coat billowing out behind her, "And it's unlikely Tsumi can just trick her into falling out of the Layer. Arata Danjo is a skilled player."

"I bet that Angel is only wearing that coat so it's owner doesn't get arrested for being a bloody great pervert," Rin noted crossly, pointing, "As if real girls have boobs like that!"

Shirushi sighed. She supposed that Rin wasn't the analytical type.

"And anyway, Tsumi is a medium-weight and is balance and agility-based. Sorako must have some kind of technique for dealing with powerful heavyweights or she wouldn't have latest this long,"

Rin said all this quite matter-of-factly, but Shirushi was amazed at how Rin could switch from flippant to focused, without seemingly being conscious of doing so.

Tsumi, however, seemed to mostly be focused on dodging Hime's powerful attacks. Each time the green-haired Angel flipped, danced or dodged out of the way, Hime wasn't too far behind with another attack, which put pressure under Sorako to dodge in time, let alone think up attacks.

"Come on, Sorako," muttered Rin, impatiently, "You can do better then that!"

Arata, however, seemed to have grown tired of Sorako's evasive manoeuvres.

Without so much as a flicker, Hime suddenly stopped chasing Sorako. Instead, the taller Angel stood quite still for a moment, regarding Tsumi. Who had just stood up after avoiding another dangerous-looking kick. The blue-eyed Angel hesitated. It was obvious Arata was planning something, but what was Sorako supposed to do about it? If she stayed where she was, Hime could easily suddenly run at her and potentially knock her out. If she ran away, Hime would probably continue to stand there until the Timer ran out.

And that was when Hime struck.

The larger Angel, Arata taking advantage of Sorako's indecision, knocked Tsumi to the ground. The smaller Angel hit the ground with a painful-sounding thud. Then, Hime grabbed Tsumi's arm and wrenched it, putting her foot on the green-haired Angel's back, pulling. The crowd groaned.

"Tsumi!" shouted Sorako, desperately.

"You'd better give it up," Arata said, glasses flashing; "Hime is a heavyweight specifically so she can execute these moves effectively."

Hime continued to pull, now using her other hand to push Tsumi's head forwards, pressing her forehead none-too-gently to the floor. The Angel's mouth seemed to fall open of its own account. Rin was struck by the sudden notion that if she were real, Tsumi would have been screaming.

Then, Sorako suddenly smirked.

"Oh, yeah?"

In the effort to somehow dislocate something of Tsumi's, Hime had planted one of her feet on the floor. Sorako seized her chance.

Tsumi, with a great effort, suddenly lashed her right leg out, knocking Hime off balance. When the bigger Angel toppled forwards, Tsumi jerked her head up, hitting Hime in the jaw. The jolt made the busty Angel release her hold on Tsumi, who managed to squirm upright, stuck out her leg, tripping Hime. The Angel hit the floor with a resounding crash, and the damage meter let out a low zooming sound as at least a quarter of Hime's damage points dropped.

"Nice try, four-eyes!" crowed Sorako from across the Layer, "But weight isn't everything!"

But Sorako's triumph was short-lived when Hime's leg lashed out again, catching Tsumi in the stomach. The smaller Angel went bouncing across the Layer, landing on her back. Rin saw more points of Tsumi's slip off the meter, and she was beginning to look a bit scuffed. Tsumi, however, did not stand up. Instead, she remained in a crouching position, as though she were winded. Sorako leant forwards in her seat, watching her Angel intently.

Hime, with a leisurely sashay, came forwards, lifting up her foot to stomp on Tsumi's head.

Tsumi flipped, using her hands to half-push herself off the floor, slamming one of her platform shoes into Hime's unlifted leg, trying to knock her off balance. It didn't work, however- Hime was too heavy, but Tsumi at least avoided the bigger Angel slamming her foot into her head.

"Shit, this Angel is tough." whispered Rin to Shirushi, "Tsumi's barely making an impact at all."

"No, Sorako is just wasting her time dodging all of Hime's moves," Shirushi responded, nodding up to the damage meter, "Her trick of flipping Hime to the ground was a good idea, but she'll have to be careful about using her weight against her, since Arata will notice what she's doing. She's just afraid of taking too many risks with Tsumi, but ironically it's getting her hurt."

"Angels can't get _hurt_," scoffed Rin, "They're just dolls."

Shirushi glanced at Rin, but the ebony-haired girl had returned her attention to the match, and seemed to have forgotten her previous remark.

Although Shirushi couldn't blame Rin for getting distracted- it seemed the climax of the match was approaching. While Tsumi had more damage, Hime was, surprisingly, not that far behind.

The Angels had abandoned the ongoing game of Cat-and-Mouse now- they did not have the luxury of time on their side.

Tsumi and Hime both stood at opposite ends of the Layer. Tsumi's face was scuffed and her hair was beginning to fall out of its sideways ponytail. Hime's coat was torn and the lipstick on her mouth was smudged. The crowd had gone so still that even the slightest crackle of food wrappers was met with a pointed, "Sssh!"

Rin leant forwards, waiting, like a cat preparing to pounce.

The Angels struck, and there was a blinding flash of light.

"Fuck! My eyes!" screeched Rin, flinging her arm over her eyes, pupils shrinking in the bright glare.

"Look!" Shirushi said, pointing.

"That was a heated battle, ladies and gentlemen!" yelled the Commentator, "But it looks like one Angel is still standing!"

As the light cleared, one silhouette stood over the over, the other Angel having finally given up. The Commentator finally roused himself after being blinded by the light.

"AND THE WINNER IS-"

* * *

Dundundun! My first attempt at a proper cliffhanger for this story! (I hope it wasn't a COLOSSAL failure.) Incidentally, do any of you recognise Arata?

Keep on reading!


	12. The Party

Heyyy guys!

Oh my GOD. I haven't updated this since 2009? My bad! Epic my bad! I'm sorry, everyone! I didn't think my procrastinating would get THAT bad. BUT, I have a present for you! If you message me, I will give you a link to my DeviantArt, where I have drawn a picture of a few of the Angels who appear in this fic (not all of them, but eh). Hopefully it'll be clearer which one is which.

And this chapter is fairly long for your wait. (Sorry, I can't give you the link here because is PICKY.)

Enjoy!

* * *

"Annnnd it's a victory for Tsumi!"

A roar erupted from the crowd as the green-haired Angel took a bow; Hime sprawled on the floor by her platformed feet. Tsumi actually had a slightly startled expression on her face- the usually smiling mouth had slackened, her blue eyes wide. Sorako's hair looked considerably scruffier than usual, having been tousling it unconsciously as the match had reached its climax. Arata's expression was unreadable, his eyes hidden behind his glasses as the glare of the Layer reflected on them.

"Sweet holy hell." breathed Rin, who was slumped in her seat as though she had been punctured. "Did time just stop for a second back there?"

"It certainly felt that way." Shirushi replied, and she managed to keep her amusement at Rin's typically blasé' reaction out of her voice.

As the seats lowered both of the Layer contestants, the reporters hovering nearby suddenly swarmed the seats, Sorako's in particular. Unlike some of the winners Rin had seen, Sorako managed to keep her cool and even posed a little for the photographs being taken of her. Rin rolled her eyes.

"Come on." she said to Shirushi, standing up and indicating the door with a jerk of her head. "She'll be ages talking to the reporters. We can catch up with her later."

Shirushi simply nodded and picked up her jacket as Rin strolled out. As they walked together in silence, Rin considered Shirushi thoughtfully. She wondered if Shirushi actually _liked_ Sorako all that much, or whether she merely put up with her because of Rin's capricious whims. Even though they seemed perfectly willing to hang out with her together, Rin wondered if they considered each other as friends.

_Then again_, thought Rin, _she seems to be friends with me, for some reason, even if she is older than me. Older, prettier, cooler, smarter-_"Rin?"

Rin jerked out of her thoughts to see Shirushi staring at her.

"...What?" she asked, slightly unnerved at the look she was receiving.

"You've been staring straight ahead without blinking for about two minutes." Shirushi told her, matter-of-factly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Rin." Shirushi said, and Rin found herself pausing at her tone.

She had said it so simply, almost like a statement, but Rin could tell Shirushi didn't believe her, but at the same time, she didn't feel as though she was being accused of anything. So Rin decided to just say it.

"Why are you friends with me?" she blurted out.

Shirushi blinked, slightly caught off-guard.

"Pardon?"

"Why did you come over to me, that day in the bathroom?" Rin asked. "You'd never even met me before. You just saw that one match, and I didn't exactly handle it well. So what made you think there was something else to me?"

Shirushi stared at Rin at though she had sprouted antlers. Then she suddenly smiled. It was a soft, almost maternal smile that would have been strange coming from cool, composed Shirushi, and yet the expression was so natural that all Rin could do was look at her.

"Because I like the way you fight with Iolanthe. You have passion and you're a lot more talented than you think. And that was your first official match, and you got through it even though your opponent was cheating and had been in more matches then you. And you weren't afraid to stand up to her. I respect that. And I still do."

Rin said nothing. She just looked at Shirushi, slightly stunned. Shirushi smiled and began walking again.

"Is that a good enough answer for you?"

Rin stared after her friend.

"Shirushi..." she sighed, so low that the blue-haired woman did not hear her. "How wrong about me can you be?

* * *

Sorako's post-battle high lasted well into the next day at school. Rin was pleased for her friend, but after listening to Sorako describe the match over and OVER again to various admirers got tiring very quickly.

"Sorako," Rin griped as the bell rang for the second lesson. "How long are people going to be asking you about that friggin' match? 'Cause I have to tell you, listening to what a creepy weirdo Arata Danjo was the first couple of times was funny, now it's making me wanna bang my head against the wall."

"Price of success, I'm afraid, Rin." Sorako replied rather smugly, swinging her (stylish) bag onto her shoulder. "I'll see you at lunch."

As Sorako and Rin parted ways in the corridor outside, Rin was left in a rather surly mood. And it wasn't because of Sorako's success going to her head, either. As much as she hated admitting dependence on anyone, Rin felt more lost in the school without Sorako, who was one of those girls who just seemed to exude confidence without trying (the fact she _always_ looked good was probably a contributing factor), and it made Rin feel a little better about the whole ordeal herself. She was conscious of the fact that she was still new, and Rin had always had a problem with blending in.

Sucking in her breath, she began to walk moodily towards the staircase; she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey!"

Sighing very pointedly, Rin turned around.

"You're the new kid?" a girl asked, looking at Rin and pursing her lips slightly.

"Yeah, I guess." shrugged Rin.

Rin already knew who this girl was when she looked at her. Kasuga Kimuya was the type of girl who seems to be in every school, no matter where you girl. The girl who is always tucked away in a corner or in a bathroom to smoke, the girl who is always gouging graffiti into the wall with keys, the girl who is angry, tough and lets everybody know about it. Rin had occasionally seen Kasuga outside, lighting up one of her omnipresent cigarettes or otherwise lounging around, looking as if she were just waiting to do something destructive like set off the fire alarm or put soap on banisters.

Kasuga considered her, so Rin considered her right back. She had lime green hair, some of it knotted at the back in the imitation of some punk singer, woven into tiny dreadlocks. Kasuga's emerald green nose stud glimmered in the light, and Rin could make out several ear piercings poking through some of her hair. Her eyes were heavily outlined in eyeliner and were a metallic, grayish blue in colour. Bangs that had been laboriously woven into small dreads also framed her face.

"Whaddaya staring' at?" drawled Kasuga, arching an eyebrow, which was also pierced.

"_You_ were staring." shot back Rin, feeling strangely exposed.

"Calm down." Kasuga said patronizingly, but she suddenly seemed less aggressive. She jerked her head at the doors behind her. "Coming?"

Rin considered her options.

For about a second.

"Yeah, whatever." she answered carelessly, heading off towards the doors, leaving Kasuga with no choice but to follow. Rin smirked to herself, savouring that small victory.

Truthfully, Rin knew why she was going along with Kasuga- it's because she wanted to impress her, as much as Rin hated to admit it. It wasn't just the piercings, the maddeningly superior rebelliousness or the hair that told Rin what Kasuga was- it was also that Rin could sense somebody who was just as pissed off at the world as she was. She was what Rin had wanted to be, for all her posturing.

Rin frowned as this thought echoed through her mind.

_Had wanted...?_

Outside, it threatened to rain, so Kasuga and Rin skulked around the back of the school, huddling by the door where the school got its cafeteria food each day. Rin tried to ignore the distinct odour of frozen fish-cakes. Kasuga leant against the brick wall, pulling a silver rectangular packet from her pocket. She raised her eyes to Rin as she dipped her hand into opposite pocket and flipped out a lighter.

_Knew it._

"Want one?" asked Kasuga, holding out the packet.

"I'm an asthmatic." replied Rin, grumbling, glaring at the packet as though it had done something to personally offend her.

"Yeah?" said Kasuga, disinterestedly, sticking a cigarette in her mouth and raising her eyebrows. Although her tone was nonchalant, Rin didn't miss the challenging look in her eyes, because it was a look that she herself recognised.

Angrily, Rin dropped her backpack onto the ground with a thud, then leant down and started rummaging in it. Kasuga watched Rin, eyebrows knitted together with confusion, before Rin straightened up, something clutched in her hand.

"What the hell?" Kasuga asked, looking confused.

Rin held a shiny red object between her index finger and thumb, looking triumphant as she waved her inhaler in front of Kasuga.

"See?" she said, sounding rather cocky.

Kasuga stared at her for a second, looking slightly shocked. Then she did something completely unexpected- she started to laugh.

"What?" Rin grunted.

"You're so _weird_." Kasuga told Rin, but she was still laughing, so Rin decided to take it as a compliment.

"So I've been told." Rin shrugged, trying not to look too pleased. She leant casually against the wall. "What're we doing back here, anyway?"

"Smoking, what do you think?" answered Kasuga, sounding amused, raising the cigarette to her lips and taking a drag.

"Yeah, yeah, very good, smartass." replied Rin, rolling her eyes expressively. "What I _mean_, is why did you ask me out here?"

Kasuga smirked, her face temporarily obscured by blue-grey smoke. A similar colour, Rin suddenly noticed, to her eyes.

"You have a reputation."

"Reputation?"

"Yeah. People say you got kicked out of your old school and had to come here. They _also_ say that you play Angelic Layer, and you kicked Reiko Jubi's ass at it on your first try. So, is it true?"

Rin wouldn't have been more surprised if Kasuga had told her that she was secretly a genie and she wanted to grant Rin three wishes. When she realised Kasuga was still staring at her expectantly, though, she found herself answering automatically.

"No, yes and yes." she said, truthfully, which made Kasuga raise her eyebrows.

"Really? _You _play Angelic Layer?"

Rin pretended to look offended.

"What's so surprising about that?" she said.

Kasuga shrugged. "Nothing. You just don't look like the type."

"And you do?" Rin replied, to which Kasuga snorted, and then suddenly Rin's eyes floated down to Kasuga's coat pocket, where she saw something pink sticking out of it. She made a grab at it, suddenly getting an idea as to what it might be.

"Hey-!" Kasuga barked, but Rin was too quick for her, and a second later Rin was holding an Angel in her hand.

"I guess that makes both of us who don't look the type but who play anyway." commented Rin, wryly, wiggling Kasuga's Angel at her.

"Give that back!" Kasuga snapped, snatching the Angel back, but her irritation was short-lived once the Angel was returned to her. Seeing Rin's curious expression, she sighed and held her up better so Rin could see. "This is Umeki."

Umeki was a fairly short Angel, but her long, pastel pink hair gave her the appearance of being larger. A small section of it was tied back in a ponytail at the back of her head with a silver scrap of cloth. She was wearing a dark green dress with a scoop-neck that was fairly loose on her body, although she wore a thick tan belt that pushed up her breasts and accentuated her waist. On her feet she appeared to be wearing what looked like ballet pumps, in a dark plum colour. It was hard to believe Kasuga was the owner of such a soft, muted-coloured Angel. Rin was expecting some kind of miniature terminator.

"Nice." Rin told Kasuga, who looked slightly pleased as she placed Umeki safely back in her pocket. "Mine's Iolanthe."

"Cool name." commented Kasuga, tapping ash from her cigarette. "Do you still have it? I heard Reiko tried to short-circuit it or something."

"No, she just put some weird gismo on it. She put it on Iolanthe when I was wrestling her to the floor in the waiting room."

"No shit, really?"

Rin smirked and nodded. "She was pissing me off."

"She's a bitch." Kasuga said dismissively, taking a swift drag. "Friend of mine used to date her older sister. He said the Jubi's are totally fucking loaded. They have a mansion and everything. Reiko's a spoilt rich bitch."

"Her sister plays Angelic Layer." Rin said, remembering something Sorako had said. "Or so I heard."

"Michiko doesn't play. She _battles_." Kasuga said. Rin was about to comment on the strange emphasis Kasuga put on battle, when she abruptly changed the subject. "Anyway, speaking of my friend, there's a party on Friday night at the Kirino house. Costume party. Are you gonna go?"

"Don't know. I only just heard about it." Rin pointed out.

"You should." Kasuga responded casually, stubbing out her cigarette on the rust-coloured bricks, leaving a small black hole where she ground it into the stone. "Get that bossy chick to take you."

"Sorako?"

"Yeah, her." Kasuga shrugged, tossing the cigarette away as the bell rang loudly. She began to walk away as though the conversation had never taken place before throwing casually over her shoulder. "See ya, Rin."

Rin watched her go with her arms folded, then she followed suit and headed back inside. It was only when she had sat down in her next class that she realised that, all the way through their conversation, she had never actually given Kasuga her name.

* * *

"_NO WAY_!"

Rin, who had been expecting Sorako to give some kind of dramatic outburst to her news, didn't bat an eyelid at her friend's reaction, instead taking another large handful from the plate of nachos sitting between them. A couple of other people did wince at the pitch the black-haired girl's voice rose to, though.

"Kasuga Kimuya invited _you_ to a party?"

"Not just me." Rin answered, taking pleasure in watching the cheese stretch as she pulled another nacho from the plate. "She said to 'bring the bossy chick', so I assumed that meant you."

"Cow!" Sorako said, poking her tongue out at Rin. She took a dignified sip of her bottled water. "But I guess I'll go. I can't believe I didn't know about it!"

"Kasuga's friend apparently likes rich chicks." Rin giggled.

"A lot of boys do." Sorako commented wryly, tapping the corner of her lip in thought. "I'm surprised Kasuga Kimuya knows somebody who associates with the Jubi's, though. She's one of those people who think 'rich' means 'evil'. Not that Reiko isn't, but whatever. I heard she does drugs."

"Who? Reiko?" smirked Rin. Sorako rolled her eyes.

"No, dumbass, Kasuga."

"That's stupid." snorted Rin, decisively. "You don't even know her."

Sorako looked a bit startled by that remark, and she stared at Rin, who was completely oblivious to Sorako's temporary shift in demeanor, as she was busy peering down her straw as though expecting to find something in there.

"Although it was a bit weird she told me to go to the party when it's not even her house." Rin said, eventually giving up with her straw and taking a loud sip.

"Mitsuru Kirino's in our grade and she's nice. She won't care if we gatecrash." Sorako shrugged.

"I'm bringing Shirushi, too." Rin told Sorako, watching the blue-eyed girl for a reaction, but Sorako was staring over Rin's shoulder.

"Yeah, sure." she said, clearly not really listening. She suddenly grinned and nudged Rin with her elbow. "Hey! Don't you think that guy over there is cute?"

Rin began to turn her head, but Sorako hastily grabbed at her.

"Don't look at him!" she hissed, as though this were obvious.

"Why? He's not going to care." Rin protested, rolling her eyes. Instead of fully turning around, she stretched, pretending to yawn loudly, and took a sneaky glance over her shoulder. A blonde boy was standing at the counter, one hand in his pocket while the other gesticulated to the cashier. He was reasonable-enough looking, but Rin was never particularly impressed by 'reasonable'.

"So?" prodded Sorako, glancing at him again coyly. "Maybe I should go talk to him. Don't you think he's kinda hot?"

"No."

"You've got to be the most anti-social people I have ever met." Sorako told Rin, amused.

"I don't WANT a boyfriend." Rin said grouchily, popping another nacho into her mouth.

"Why?" Sorako asked absently, glancing wistfully at the boy. "You gay or something?"

Rin snorted like a bull, then cocked an eyebrow and smiled.

"Yeah, I totally am." Rin whispered dramatically, pretending to glance furtively around before leaning in to Sorako. "And I'm _totally hot_ for you, Sorako."

Sorako squealed and tipped back on her chair as Rin jerked her head, nearly spilling her water into her lap. Rin cackled, thin hands grabbing her stomach when Sorako shot her an indignant look. A few people glanced at Rin, eyebrows raised bemusedly.

"Of course I'm not." Rin scoffed, once she had done laughing. "Not that I have a problem with it. But anyway, even if I was, don't just _assume_ I'd be into you. You're waaaay too high-maintenance."

"Bitch!" gasped Sorako, swatting at Rin, but she was laughing as well now. But the moment was spoiled when Sorako picked up her drink and tilted her head to one side, her eyes travelling up and down the boy.

"So why DON'T you want a boyfriend?" Sorako asked Rin, when Rin rolled her eyes.

Rin sighed deeply and glanced slowly over at the boy, a frown settling upon her face. For a moment, she was quiet, as though she was gathering her reply. Sorako stared at her.

"Boyfriends always expect too much from you." Rin said softly, a hardness in her gaze. "They always want you to be something that you're not. They always want you to change."

"What do they want you to change into?" Sorako asked, wondering why she felt compelled to whisper.

Rin smiled, bitterly.

"The girl that doesn't exist anymore."

* * *

"Oh my god." Rin slurred, delightedly. "Remind me to try and be best friends with Mitsuru later."

Upon entry to the Kirino household (Shirushi had offered to drive, Sorako had been the navigator), Rin had been relieved to see that Kasuga had not been lying about the size of the Kirino household, or indeed the party at all.

"Ew." Sorako commented now, wrinkling her nose as a boy stuck his lips to a beer keg. "If you have a beer belly like that, shouldn't you at least wear a _shirt_?"

"Quit whining, Princess." Rin teased, taking another swing from a bottle she had swiped from one of the large white tables in the living room. "You're outfit's hardly trying that hard to hide anything."

Sorako huffed. In a tiny blue dress with a silver hem and a silver headband in her short blackish hair, her outfit was indeed bearing a good deal of skin.

"Well, at least I actually have a nice body to show off..." Sorako muttered. "And compared to those girls I saw in the Dining room, _this_ outfit is practically sensible!"

"God forbird." Sniggered Rin, the room swaying gently as she did so. She was finding just about everything amusing at the moment. "M'gonna go look for Shirushi."

"I think she went to the bathroom." Sorako called after Rin, as the green-eyed girl hauled herself ungracefully to her feet and staggered off.

"Shi-hic- Shirushiii?" Rin called as she went stumbling slightly into theliving room. Music was thumping through the room, though, making it difficult for anybody not standing right next to Rin to understand what the hell she was saying.

"Oi!" Rin said loudly, poking a red-haired girls in the shoulder. "You seen a really tall girl in a black dress and blue hair?"

The girl turned around, then her eyes widened when she saw who it was. Rin blinked at her- clearly, she was more well-known then she preferred.

"What?" she snapped, irritably.

"You-" began the girl, and Rin suddenly remembered (too late) who it was.

"Nev'mind." Rin said, and started to turn away, when she heard another much more familiar, and unwelcome, voice.

"Aimi? Aimi, why is my- You!"

Reiko, who was dressed in what looked like a shiny pink minidress, black tights and not much else, suddenly staggered towards Rin on ridiculously tall heels.

"What the hell are YOU doing here, Fushine?" slurred Reiko aggressively, standing close enough that Rin could smell her- a mixture of hairspray, too much perfume and booze.

"Getting really, REALLY drunk!" said Rin loudly, over the music. "And now that I've sheen WAAAY too much of your over-padded boobs, I'm gonna need some more booze."

Rin turned away when she felt Reiko shoved at her.

"You bitch!" she said, but her voice rose to a squeak at the profanity, which made Rin burst into a drunken fit of giggles, attracting even more attention to the pair.

"Get lost, Reiko." Rin told her, giving Reiko a clumsy push. "Your face is confusing me- I don't underschtand why you haven't made your daddy buy you a nosejob yet."

Reiko let out a little scream of rage and shoved Rin as hard as she could. Unfortunately, Reiko's high heels just weren't prepared for the blonde to perform such a sudden movement and sent her toppling over, while Rin was sent flying forwards as Reiko's drunken push had knocked her off balance, which was made twice as bad due to the fact Rin could hardly construct more than two sentences.

Suddenly, though, Rin was spared from landing on her face and/or ribs when a pair of hands suddenly fastened around her midriff.

"Easy, there." A calm but amused voice told her. "You could hurt somebody, crashing into them like that."

Rin looked up to see a pair of amber eyes staring down at her. They were so orange they nearly looked red. She looked slightly further up to see a young man perhaps a year or so older then her, with silvery-grey hair.

"Who're you shupposed to be?" Rin asked him, straightening herself up and placing a hand on the wall for balance. "Some kind of knight or something?"

"I think you're talking about Prince Charming." The boy replied with a quirk of his lips, and Rin snorted.

"Let's not go crazy there, honey." She informed him, smiling rather sardonically. "I think we're in the wrong millennium for that kind of dumbassedry."

"Oh, really?" he said, and Rin could tell that he merely found her sarcasm amusing, which would usually irritate her, but right now she was too drunk to care.

"Yeah." Rin told him, pushing away from the wall. The music from the next room seemed to pound through her ribcage. "And if you were, you'd have to be rescuing, like, princesses and shit."

"And what would that make you, then?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. "If you claim you're not a princess?"

Rin smiled.

"I'm a bitch." She announced, as though this was a secret she had been dying to tell somebody for ages. Then she kissed him.

Although kissed was probably a bit of a polite term. Rin more crashed her mouth against the boys, ignoring or just oblivious to his little grunt of surprise. But he seemed more then willing to reciprocate, and she felt one hand slide down from her waist and down to her ass...

"Ouch!" Rin gasped, as she felt a pain suddenly shoot through her arm.

"_Excuse us._" She heard a voice hiss in the direction of the boy, when Rin felt herself being dragged mercilessly from the room by none other than Sorako Kushima.

"Oi." Rin piped up, squinting at Sorako as she dragged Rin into the kitchen. "I was busy!"

"RIN." said Sorako in a breathless voice, her hand in a vice-like grip around Rin's arm. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THAT WAS?"

"Whoever it was, he was a good kisser." smirked Rin, giving a drunken snicker.

Sorako threw her hands in the air in exasperation.

"That 'guy', Rin Furishine, is _only_ Tokudaiji Eiri, the Champion of the Okinawa Angelic Layer Tournament AND the favourite to win in the _very Tournament WE happen to be competing in!_" Sorako finished with a dramatic hiss, shaking Rin slightly for emphasis.

Unfortunately for her, Rin was too drunk to appreciate the depth of Sorako's frustration.

"I see you found Rin." Shirushi commented, as she had been leaning against the doorframe when Sorako and Rin came bursting into the room.

"Yes, I did." Sorako told Shirushi, clearly desperate for somebody to share in her moment of extreme agitation. "She was sucking face with Tokudaiji Eiri! You know him, right, Shirushi? The Steel Prince of Okinawa?"

"And how d'you know all that shtuff about him anyways?" Rin giggled. "Are you his number one fan or shomething?"

Sorako was spared from replying when she heard a voice.

"F-Furishine?"

Rin looked over her shoulder to see none other than Kado Yatsukoji, standing there in a green T-shirt, jeans and looking thoroughly shocked to see her there. It was one of the first times Rin had ever seen him caught offguard, and damned if she was going to waste it!

"Who are you?" Sorako said, rather snappily in the face of another interruption.

Rin smiled so wide she temporarily started to resemble the Cheshire Cat.

"THIS, ladies, is Kado Yaso-Yatso- fuck it, Yatsukoji, my own personal stalker." Rin said, smiling as she swayed.

"What?" Sorako demanded. Shirushi raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not a stalker!" protested Kado, but Rin shook her head vigorously.

"Yes, yes he is." she said, smirking and wagging a finger at Kado. "You see, girls, I met him on the very firsht day I came to Tokyo, and he's been following me around ever since. He plays Angelic Layer too. He also sheems to know Reiko pretty well, conshidering how much he talks about her. In fact, I was beginning to think he was a figment of my imagination or somethin', considering I've never seen him when there are people around before."

Sorako was looking at Kado the way an airport receptionist might look at somebody they think is hiding a bomb on their person- a mixture of suspicion and mild disgust.

"You seriously think I'm _stalking_ you?" Kado repeated, and he actually sounded annoyed. "Don't forget, I was the one who told you about Reiko's plan to cheat in your match?"

"Yes, why _did_ you know about that, eh, Kado?" Rin said, pretending to look confused for a second. "Could it be you _helped her plan it_? Is that what you did? Help her plan it, then back out at the last second in case it hurt _your_ changes in the Tournament?"

Kado's eyes widened.

"I would never do something like that! I-"

"Yeah?" replied Rin sarcastically, raising her eyebrows. "Considering how much you LOVE to piss me off, it sounds like you!"

"You know nothing about me!" Kado shouted indignantly, when Shirushi cut in;

"That's _enough_. Rin, we are going home. Come on, Sorako."

Sorako, who seemed too stunned to protest, wordlessly followed Shirushi as she half-marched, half-pulled Rin down the hallway and through the front door. Luckily, Shirushi was bigger than Rin and the latter was too inebriated to put up much of a fight anyway.

"Well, that sure was _interesting_!" Sorako commented archly from the front seat of the car, while Shirushi closed the door on the driver's side.

"That's one way of putting it." Replied the older woman.

"Don't you think so, Rin?" added Sorako, twisting in her seat.  
Rin didn't answer either of them- lying sprawled out in the back of Shirushi's car, she had found herself clocking out a little earlier then she had intended.

Sorako clicked her tongue.

"Oh, she's going to have one _hell_ of a hangover when she wakes up."

Shirushi sighed and put the keys in ignition.

"And we've got an awful lot of explaining to do."

* * *

Yay! Teenage antics! (Since it occurred to me that, for a fic starring them, there was a bit of a lackage of teenage activities.) Sorry there was no fight in this chapter, but don't worry, more are on the way! And not only ONE new character introduced, but two!

Fun fact: Tokudaiji is actually a Noble Family name in Japan, or so a website kindly informed me.

Reviews are, as you know, AWESOME.


	13. Shades of black and white

My god, I am such a jerk. I seriously can't believe I haven't updated this story in SO LONG. I feel like a total jerkface. XD Granted I HAVE had some university shizz going on, but since it's the summer now I really need to start updating my stories more frequently. Blaaah. This chapter took me a while, surprisingly- I had the beginning and end done, I just had a hard time connecting it with the middle... (As always, thanks for all the kind words, including the mysterious anonymous reviewer that referenced my profile. :D)

Oh well, it's up now, at last! As always, enjoy it!

* * *

Rin Furishine was dying.

"Ohhhh...my heeead..."

Cracking open one emerald green eye, Rin almost hissed as the cheerful mid-spring sunlight poured into the room from the narrow slit in her curtains. Her head was pounding like a team of athletes was running around inside it, her mouth was so dry that you could have lit a match on it, and her feet were absolutely killing her, little needles of pain stabbing through the arch of her foot, rather than an overall pain.

"Stupid motherfucking high heels." Rin grunted, hauling herself upright with difficulty.

Her pillow was streaked with leftover makeup- upon arriving at Kata's at god-knows-what-time, the combined efforts of Sorako and Shirushi had got Rin into bed and there was a glass of water sitting on the small nightstand, but Rin found she was still in her outfit from last night and most of her makeup was either smeared around her eyes/down her cheeks or on the pillow. Her hair, she could tell without even looking, was a total mess.

Reaching for the water, Rin took several greedy gulps, some of it dribbling down her chin. She splashed a bit on her face to wake herself up.

"Good, you're alive."

Rin glanced over to see Kata leaning against the wall, looking amused.

Rin frowned. Kura would have killed her for coming home drunk, unconscious and at what had to be at least three o' clock in the morning, or at the very least it would have triggered off a three-hour screaming match. Kata just looked like she wanted to laugh at her niece's predicament.

"I've been checking up on your every two hours or so. Yukiko thinks you've contracted some kind of sunlight-repellent teenager disease something."

"What do you want?" Rin asked, grumpy.

"Couple of things," Kata answered easily. "First, you to clean yourself up. Second, you had no less than _four_phonecalls last night, although only two people left names, and thirdly, I have a lunch meeting to go to, so I think you should probably meet up with your friend or something."

"No. I need to sleep for another thousand years."

"Why? Don't you trust me in the house on my own or something?"

"Yes, but I figure the reason you had so many phonecalls today is because your friends are dying to tell you all about last night, considering that you were already passed out drunk by the time you got home. Plus, I don't want you puking on my carpets."

"Lovely."

"Isn't it? There's some painkillers in the bathroom."

* * *

After much cajoling, some serious hair adjustment and a lot of caffiene, Rin left Kata's house. She declined her aunt's offer to make her breakfast, as her stomach was still twisting in a thoroughly unpleasant way and the thought of putting something into her mouth and making it disappear seemed utterly impossible, particularly anything healthy.

Rin walked through the park, her headache gone, but she still felt groggy and weird. She was a bit curious about last night, but she wanted to be on her own.

In Rin's hungover, cranky and tired state, she wondered how long it had been since she had just been out on her own like this. Since she had moved to Kata's and started school, her life had abruptly been invaded by all sorts of people expecting and demanding things from her. It felt, to put it mildly, very weird. Since Rin had turned about 13/14, she had much preferred her own company to other people's, to the point that it was rare for her to bring friends home from school, although Kura's query as to why wasn't answered with a satisfying explanation beyond simple teenage awkwardness.

But Rin knew it was more than that. And since she had developed the propensity to shut people out, it seemed very strange to her that suddenly she had not only friends, but ones who were so determined to tell her about one rather typical party that Kata seemed to think she was _popular, _or something. And while it was nice that not every person Rin interacted with were her enemies, she couldn't help feeling strangely resentful, as though it was her friends' fault that Rin was feeling oddly...invaded.

She sighed in frustration and stuffed her hands into her pockets. Beforehand, if people were getting to be all too much for her, she was an expert about drawing away and avoiding them. But with Sorako in class with her, Shirushi at the Stadium and the other people who occasionally spoke to her, Rin suddenly didn't know how to stage a tactful retreat. She gained a sour expression when she wondered when she suddenly stopped being able to do that. How much she had changed since coming her, and changes that had been unconsciously made for the benefit of _other _people.

"What's so wrong with wanting to be alone, anyway?" she muttered.

Suddenly, a rustling sound caught her attention and she looked up.

Mihara stood dramatically on top of a monument of some war hero, his arms spread wide as though he were a child playing airplanes. He then leapt and attempted some kind of midair flipped that just resulted in him landing rather painfully on his face, arms and legs splayed out like a bug that has been splattered on a car windshield.

"Oh. It's you." Rin grunted, showing no sign whatsoever of being impressed by Mihara's dramatic entrance.

Mihara got to his feet, trying and failing to look nonchalant as he dusted himself off and folded his arms.

"Do you ever say 'hello' like a normal person?"

Rin rolled her eyes.

"Come on. What about me so far has lead you to believe I'm normal?"

"Fair enough." he mumbled. "So, how have you been?"

"Like you care."

"As obnoxious as ever. That's good to hear, I suppose."

Rin sighed and put her hands on her hips.

"Why are you following me, anyway? Do you, like, have some kind of weird obsession with me? Don't you have meetings or other people to harass? Is work too slow or something?"

"To answer your questions: To ask you a question, certainly not, not right now, and yes."

A breeze kicked up at that moment, carrying the scent of flowers on the wind. It was strangely calming when coupled with the sunlight. Rin snorted a little bit at Mihara's obtuse speaking. It seemed oddly quiet suddenly.

"I hear you're competing in the Tokyo games."

Rin raised her eyebrows.

"What about it?"

Mihara stared at her.

"Last time we spoke, you seemed like you were ready to quit." he reminded Rin, who pursed her lips a bit at the memory of her defeat.

"I'm not a quitter." Rin told him.

"I didn't say you were."

"You implied it."

Mihara looked distinctly frustrated and Rin smirked slightly as he flung his hands up into the air in exasperation. She wasn't sure why, but something about Mihara kicked up her belligerent side and the truth was, she enjoyed messing with him. She folded her arms.

"That's it, then?" she asked, bored. "That's all you wanted to ask?"

"I was hoping for a more detailed response then that." Mihara replied, sounding tired.

Rin sneered.

"What are you, my psychiatrist?"

"If only. I'd probably be rich."

"Whatever. Don't give up your day job." She replied, quickly growing bored of the conversation. "If you're done stalking me, I'm going."

Shoving her hands back into her pockets, she started to walk past him, the wind whipping her hair and making the pearl-colored scarf looped around her neck flail wildly in the air, like it was waving goodbye.

"Wait."

Rin turned back, hands on hips. Mihara almost wanted to laugh- she looked like an annoyed housewife. But still...

"I thought you hated Angelic Layer."

"You think a lot of things," Rin answered him. "Doesn't mean you're necessarily correct though, does it, Mr. I-think-I-know-everything."

Mihara sighed, theatrically. Rin smirked.

"What are you saying, Rin? The last time you had an Angelic Layer match, you didn't exactly take it well."

"First of all, since when did we get on first names terms with each other, _Ichirou? _Second of all, so freaking what? I lost to a seven-year-old. In front of people. It was embarrassing, and your shitty attitude wasn't exactly welcome either."

Mihara would have been annoyed by this accusation (especially as it seemed more than a bit hypocritical), but Rin's evasive answers were confusing him.

"So you're saying, you actually want to do this now? You're competing in the Tournament freely?"

"Something like that."

Mihara let out an annoyed groan and started digging around in his coat pocket. He had evidently thought that Rin was being deliberately vague to irritate him, and she was, partly. But Mihara was the last person that Rin intended on confiding her true intentions to, and she half-suspected that he didn't fully believe that she had been converted into the "Ways of Angelic Layer" (as Rin had dubbed it in her head), so she had to be careful with what she said.

"Here."

A white sheet of paper was suddenly thrust in Rin's face. She blinked and took it, seeing the Angelic Layer emblem across the top of the paper.

"What's this?" she asked, glancing up at Mihara.

"The roster for the new tournament. I assumed you didn't have one yet."

Rin looked a bit surprised for a moment, and it almost looked like she was about to thank Mihara. Then she smirked and folded it up, stuffing the match table into her pocket.

"Careful there, Midlife Crisis. People will think you're showing favoritism or something."

Mihara grunted and turned to go.

"You really are one of the most obnoxious people I've ever met, Rin Furishine."

Rin laughed.

"Believe me; I've heard _that _one before."

She turned and walked off, hands in her pockets, but she removed one and waved it.

"See ya, freak."

Mihara sighed, but he couldn't help smiling slightly as well.

That kind of honesty was rare in this day and age, after all.

* * *

The next day, Rin took a slow, steadying breath as she walked through the automatic doors at the entrance of the stadium. Her belt jingled noisily as she walked.

"Rin! Hey! Rin Furishine!"

Rin turned to see a girl with dark, prussian blue hair with a blunt fringe. Sunglasses were perched on top of her head. Rin recognized her immediately- Mitsuru Kirino, the girl whose party Rin had been at a few nights ago, although Rin couldn't recall seeing her besides when she first got to the party. Her memory was a little on the patchy side.

"Oh, hey Mitsuru." Rin said, trying to sound as though she associated her with more than the host of 'that party that I don't remember'.

"Hey!" Mitsuru said, smiling. "Looking forward to the match today?"

This seemed an odd question.

"I...guess?"

Mitsuru grinned now.

"You haven't looked at the roster yet, have you?"

"I have not." Rin agreed.

Mitsuru giggled a little bit, but not in a patronizing way, more in a jokey, camaraderie-inspiring way. Her amber eyes seemed to glitter with excitement.

"We're up against each other! Our first match of the tournament."

"Oh!" Rin said, a little surprised. She had no idea Mitsuru was a Deus, too. "Kasuga didn't tell me." Rin blurted out, shrugging.

"Well, I haven't been doing it for as long as Kasu." Mitsuru shrugged, but then she smiled. "But don't take me lightly!"

"Not a chance." Rin told her, trying to sound as effortlessly confident. "What's your Angel called, anyways?"

"Her name is Shade." Mitsuru answered. "But as for the rest, it's a surprise!"

Rin smirked a little. This was getting interesting.

"Hm. I definitely won't take you lightly," she said. "But you'd better not think I'm going to be a cakewalk."

"Don't worry- you're tough! I can tell." Mitsuru said, tapping the side of her nose with a conspiratorial wink. "Anyway, I'll see you on the Arena! I'm going to go find my friends- they want to, you know, wish me luck and everything."

With that, Mitsuru waved and ran off, her gladiator sandals slapping against the tiled floor.

Rin, feeling intrigued and a little bit jitterier, walked the opposite way, smiling slightly to herself.

"Funny, I'll almost feel bad about kicking her ass." she mused as she walked, hands in her pockets.

* * *

"Shirushi!"

Sorako ran up the stairs to greet the tall, statuesque girl, (which was hard to do in a minidress) but slowed down when she saw who she was talking to.

"What's _he _doing here?"

Kado looked affronted as Sorako reached them, her hands on her green, denim-clad hips. Shirushi cleared her throat slightly.

"Yatsukoji here has come for the match. Same as us."

"Still stalking Rin, huh?" Sorako asked, eyebrows rising a little bit.

Kado gave her a somewhat annoyed look, his grey eyes oddly piercing.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Kushima." he told her. "All you've got to go by is Furishine's word against mine."

"Yeah, well, considering Rin's my friend and you're not, I think I'll be taking her story over yours, thanks." Sorako said, tartly.

Kado snorted disdainfully and walked away, not before calling over his shoulder;

"I'd be more worried about her opponent then me, Kushima. Just a thought."

Sorako snorted.

"I'm not surprised Rin dislikes him." Shirushi commented, after he left. "There's something about him that's so..."

"Annoying." Sorako filled in, but she had a strangely smug facial expression.

"Sorako?"

Sorako turned to Shirushi, and said, with an air of an older sister explaining something to her clueless little sibling;

"Shirushi, hon, do the words 'sexual tension' mean anything to you?"

* * *

_Just breathe. Breathe. Breathe..._

As Rin sat waiting for the match to start, her chest felt strangely tight. She wasn't sure if it was due to nerves (why should she be so nervous?) or because of her constant pacing, but she felt oddly short of breath, like there was not enough oxygen in the room.

_This is fucking Mihara's fault. _Rin decided, irrationally. _If he hadn't started with the goddamn Spanish Inquisition I wouldn't be feeling so jumpy. God. Why does he have to stick his nose in my business all the damn time?_

But Rin's inner tirade was cut off when a man came through the doors that led to the arena.

"Come on, Miss Furishine. It's time."

Rin nodded and stood up.

_Breathe..._

* * *

"I don't see why you're up here with us." Sorako complained, shooting a suspicious look at Kasuga. "Why aren't you with Mitsuru's friends if you're here to watch her?"

"For the last time, _princess, _I never said I came just for Mitsuru. I want to see Rin fight too."

"Oh, I'll bet."

The two of them glared at each other. Shirushi sighed, feeling oddly like she had suddenly acquired two teenage daughters. But suddenly, Sorako gasped.

"Look!"

The trio looked down to see Mitsuru walking down the walkway to her seat, holding something in her left hand. Sorako squinted, but it was impossible to make out much from their seating position.

A ripple went through the crowd as Rin came through the doors opposite Sorako's. She was not smiling and looked rather pale. Shirushi could distantly see Iolanthe's pale violet head poking out from the top of her fist.

"ANNND NOW! THE FIRST MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT! MITSURU KIRINO VERSUS RIN FURISHINE!"

The crowd whistled and roared. Rin blinked, annoyed. Did they have to be so freakin' loud?

Mitsuru drew back her arm.

"Walk the balance between light and shadow." she announced, in a clear, almost sombre voice. "Shade."

The Angel that was thrown onto the layer landed slowly, with an eerie grace. It was a tall Angel, clad in a silvery-white cloak, complete with a hood. On the Angel's body it had on what looked like light, black armour, complete with thigh-high boots. Her hair was both black and white, and it reached to the middle of her back. The eyes were a sombre grey. It was the last type of Angel you would have expected Mitsuru Kirino to own.

The excitement in the room as the Angel stood to its full height was palpable- clearly, this was not going to be an easy win.

Eyes turned to Rin, who was sitting in the egg-like seat, her pupils large beneath the glare of the spotlight. She coughed a few times, her throat feeling oddly scratchy. Her head was pounding, but she slowly lifted up Iolanthe and spoke, her voice sounding almost uncertain.

"Fall...from the sky, Ice Star. Iolanthe."

Iolanthe slowly somersaulted forwards, landing on one knee before standing also. For a moment, neither Angel moved.

"AAAANNNNDDD...BEGIN!"

Shade run towards Iolanthe, her movement surprisingly fast considering her armor. She threw out her leg in a high-kick, which Iolanthe ducked beneath, before the smaller Angel darted forwards and punched Shade in the midsection. The Angel staggered back slightly, but bent her leg, catching Iolanthe in the back of the head. She fell forwards, but Rin made her roll at the last second, dodging a pirouette-kick from Shade, before moving into a standing position, arms held before her defensively.

Shade sent a few punches Iolanthe's way, the stoic expression never changing. For an Angel that looked more like a grim-reaper, she was a surprisingly difficult opponent to budge. Iolanthe blocked most of the punches, save for one that glanced across her right cheek. She slammed her elbow into Shade's throat, making the taller Angel skid backwards. Shade jumped and span, her leg lashing out and catching Iolanthe's midsection. The smaller Angel's emerald eyes widened, before she grabbed Shade's booted foot, wrenching viciously forwards and making her back hit the floor. This didn't last long, though- Shade used her arms to push herself up, trying to kick Iolanthe as her legs lifted up into the air. One boot-tip caught Iolanthe's chin, and the lighter Angel staggered back.

Rin could feel a burning in her throat as she continued to cough, her eyes watering uncontrollable as she struggled to breathe. She raised a hand to her mouth automatically, trying to focus, but it was hard to do with her torso jerking convulsively per wheezy cough.

She was aware that Iolanthe's movements were slowing down as Rin rapidly lost concentration- her lungs felt dry and her head fuzzy. Even her opponent had noticed that something was not right, and the Commentator was saying something, but his words sounded impossibly slow, so much that she couldn't make it out.

"I can't..." Rin said- who she was speaking to, she didn't know. "...I...I can't...breathe..."

Suddenly, the Layer blurred before her eyes and Rin felt herself tilting towards of her own accord. The crowd's screams sounded like an ocean roaring in her ears, which were pounding with an alarming urgency. Her lungs were on fire. There was no air, no air, no air...

And then, she fell forwards.

Into the black.

* * *

_"Daddy!"_

_Rin, without really meaning to, looked around._

_A little girl was holding up an Angel Egg, her eyes alight with excitement._

_"Daddy, this one! I want my Angel to fly!"_

_Rin couldn't take her eyes off them. It was like there was nobody else in the department store apart from those two, everything else rendered irrelevant. Suddenly, she felt a strange lump develop in her throat, and she turned away from them and did what she always did._

_Rin ran away._

* * *

As always, your reviews are my cupcakes. Don't deny me my sugar-rush! :P


	14. Fissures and tangled webs

Hello!

I know, I KNOW. I have GOT to stop doing this! But all the usual reaons I haven't been writing have applied, exams, social life, jobs, etc, etc. Also, I've been re-reading my notes for this fic and I've realised it's going to be longer then I thought. XD It's my own fault for introducing so many characters, but I've realised that certain things have to happen at certain points over the story, so it'll take me a bit longer to cram it all in. Oh well, this story has been going for, what, five/six years, what's a couple more? (ps: Guys, the fic is rated T for a REASON. Rin says the F-word, she's a teenager. Okay? Kay.)

Enjoy!

* * *

Rin woke up to the sound of something beeping.

At first, she didn't move. She was content to just lie there, listening. Normally, such a repetitive noise would irritate her, but right now, it was strangely comforting, something to hold on to. At least for the time being.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

Eventually, though, she got an itch in her back, and shifted a bit, trying to itch it without having to sit up entirely. The room smelled like citrus, even though there wasn't an actual fruit in sight. Rin wondered if she was just dreaming, but she felt so sleepy that she hardly cared one way or another.

An indeterminable amount of time passed. Rin vaguely picked up the fact that she could hear two voices, mumbling on the other side of the door. She didn't even try to catch what they were saying- she was more interested in watching a dragonfly that had temporarily fluttered in through the open window. She chuckled softly to herself as she watched it, half the time it just looked like a small glint of blue in the air before it darted off, out of sight.

The door opened and light footsteps alerted Rin to the fact she had a visitor.

"You..." Rin said. "What're you doin' here?"

"I just..."

Kado swallowed.

"I saw what happened. You..."

He shook his head.

_You're lucky you didn't break something._

In the brightly-lit hospital room, Rin could see the sun reflecting off Kado's tomato-red hair, which gleamed enticingly, making her want to ruffle it up even more, to see if it felt as fiery as it looked. She was blissfully ignorant of Kado's discomfort, just as she was blithely unaware of the fact that normally, she'd be feeling very defensive. After all, her asthma was not something she enjoyed being publicly advertised, let alone the fact that it was largely the reason she had ended up splayed across the Layer like a bug on a car windshield.

"Cherries." she blurted out.

"What?" Kado asked, uncertainly.

Rin looked at him, eyes somewhat half-lidded. Her mouth felt funny, like it was taking a monumental effort to keep her lower jaw from falling open. Her tongue felt thick and numb in her mouth.

"Your hair." Rin explained dreamily. "That's what it reminds me of. Cherries."

She smiled ruefully.

"Or maybe apples."

Kado looked baffled, but Rin remained totally unperturbed. She felt so light that she might just float away out of the window, and drift out into the endless blue yonder of the sky. She'd like that, just to let go of all her troubles weighing her down and just fly away...

...Or maybe it was just that her head seemed like it was stuffed with cotton wool. Rin chuckled.

"Of course, I have a bit of a fixation on hair." she added, conspiratorially.

She might have either spaced out for a few moments or the drugs were messing with her perception more then she realized, because it suddenly registered to her that Kado was now perched on the edge of the bed beside her, and Rin found herself suddenly gazing into the liquid-metal grey of his eyes.

"I think you need to get some rest, Rin."

At these words, Rin smiled, this slow, soft smile that nobody had seen on her face in a long time.

"Hey," she said, tugging slightly on his sleeve. "You called me Rin! Normally it's Furishine, in that totally obnoxious way you always say it."

Kado blushed slightly.

"Um, well, I-"

"God, you're _so_annoying." Rin burst out, but she was still smiling beatifically. "Annoying."

She slowly leant towards him, a playful gleam in her eyes, and the barest hint of a smirk upon her lips as she whispered to him, her mouth close to his skin.

"But that's okay. In fact...if I didn't know better...I'd almost say that I actually...like it..."

Then, with no warning at all, her eyes suddenly crashed shut, and she could easily have slipped off the bed if Kado hadn't flung hid arms around her shoulders. He sighed and stared at Rin's face and smiled ruefully.

"Funny, Rin Furishine, I could say the same thing about you."

* * *

"You're serious about this?"

A shaky sigh.

"I've been thinking about this for almost a year. It's just not going to work."

Kata, despite not having done so since she was a teenager, suddenly found herself desperately wanting a cigarette. She shifted slightly against her precarious seat on the kitchen table, one foot propped up against a cupboard, phone cocked between her ear and her shoulder.

"I'm flattered that you wanted to let me know, but...Kura, what about Yukiko? What about Rin? This is going to come as a shock, you know."

"I was going to tell them tonight." Kura said, sounding a little uneasy. "But I don't know how much this will change things. It has the potential to make things very different, but maybe not in the good way."

"You think the girls will want to move back with you?" Kata asked, and for some reason, the thought made her feel strange. Hollow.

"I don't know." Kura sighed. "They seem to prefer living with you. Especially Rin."

Kata said nothing to that, but she couldn't help but think about how strange things were. Kura had always been the one out of the two of them to want a family, even when they were in high school together, and Kata was the one who wanted a career. But the idea of her strange, temperamental niece leaving, the girl who was so much like her brother that it was almost physically painful at times, made a lump appear in Kata's throat.

"Kura-" she began, not really sure what she was going to say.

"Kata...I can't thank you enough." Kura said, suddenly. "I know that it's been hard for you as well, and I know that the girls...well, they aren't always the easiest people to get on with, but I swear I will make it up to you. One day."

"That's not what I was going to say. You guys are my _family_." Kata sighed.

Kura made a sound like she was preparing to speak, when the clear sound of another phone went off.

"Ugh. I'm so sorry; I'll just see what they want..."

Kata glanced out of the window as she heard Kura rummaging around in the background, wincing slightly as a particularly harsh crackle came zipping down the line into her ear. For some reason, she found herself thinking about the day Rin had turned up on her doorstep, a whole weekend earlier than expected. At the time, Kata had thought nothing of it beyond it being pure teenaged impulsiveness, but now, she wondered if it had been some kind of sign of just how quickly she would get used to having her around.

Suddenly, however, her train of thought was derailed by Kura letting out a panicked gasp.

"What?" Kata said loudly, even if she wasn't sure if Kura was speaking to her or whatever other person had called. "Kur?"

"It's Rin," Kura said, and the way she said it immediately made Kata's stomach drop. "She's in hospital."

"What happened?" Kata said, trying to keep her composure for Kura's sake. About a million ideas flashed through her mind.

"I didn't get the full details...they just say that she's..."

"What?"

"Fallen."

* * *

It felt good to be out of the hospital. There was just something about them that made you instinctively want to get out as soon as possible. Not just because of all the sick people, although that was obviously a contributing factor, but there was something about it that made him feel claustrophobic.

Kado yanked the top off his soda can with unnecessary force before taking several deep gulps. When he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, he turns to see Arata standing behind him, arms folded.

"Do you have to sneak up on me like that?" Kado grumbled.

"You were drinking so loudly, I could have run down the street and you wouldn't have heard it." Arata responded. "So? What happened?"

"The Doctors just said they were checking her head."

Arata clicked his tongue.

"Appropriate."

"It's not funny!" Kado snapped. "Jesus."

"I didn't say it was funny, I'm just saying."

Kado gave his friend a stormy look, but Arata merely gazed at him impassively, and eventually Kado turned away, huffing under his breath. Arata was always like that. What was the word...? Inscrutable, that was it.

This was kind of the opposite of Makoto, who came up to them at that moment, as if he had all the time in the world.

"Hey, guys." He greeted calmly, falling in step with the other two as they began walking down the road. "Am I late or something?"

"I wouldn't say that." Arata answered. "Kado here is just a bit touchy."

"Bite me." Kado grunted.

"Oh, so you did visit?" Makoto asked, although it was obvious. "How'd you get in anyway?"

"With my irresistible charm, obviously." Kado smirked. "The nurse there seemed to like it, anyways."

"So you visit one girl in hospital that you may or may not have a weird thing for, and then you go in and sleaze over the nurses?" Arata asked, archly. "I can't decide if that makes you disgusting or just a good multi-tasker."

"Hey, like you wouldn't have looked either!" Kado retorted.

"I'm sure you did more then look." Arata snorted.

"So, how was she?" Makoto asked. "There've been reporters around the Stadium almost all day because of that...whatever it was. First match of the Regionals and one of the contestants collapses. It's the kinda thing the press eat up, y'know?"

Kado shrugged.

"She was okay, I guess. I don't know _what_they gave her, but whatever it was, it was pretty powerful. She was just...really, really spaced out."

Now Arata and Makoto looked a little intrigued. Possibly because they, like everyone else, had only ever seen Rin Furishine in two phases; either her usual brash, I-don't-care-I-do-what-I-want attitude, or the rather alarming sickness they, like almost all the other Deus in the tournament, had seen. Even the unshakeable Arata and the chronically laid-back Makoto had been shocked when Rin landed on the Layer, out cold, like she had simply fallen out of the sky.

"Well, do you think she'll be able to compete in the Tournament?" Arata asked. "It's not the first time the stress has meant some Deus have had no choice but to drop out."

"I don't know, but I don't think she'd drop out. No way." Kado said. He might not be Rin's friend exactly, but he knew that no matter what, Rin would do anything she could stay being fiercely independent. "They'll have to give her some X-rays and stuff, but the helmet took most of the impact, apparently."

Arata looked thoughtful.

"Hmm..."

"So, did you see her friends there at all?" Makoto suddenly asked.

The other two males groaned.

"Not this again..." Arata grumbled, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"You're _still_going to ask her out?" Kado asked Makoto, who didn't even look annoyed or embarrassed by his friends' exasperation, but simply smiled a little bit.

"Yeah, why not?" he said.

"She'll probably shoot you down in flames, you know." Kado told him. "Sorry man, but she will."

"If she does, she does." Makoto shrugged. "At least I'll have tried, right?"

"Got to admire that enthusiasm, I guess." Arata smirked. Makoto nudged him slightly with his elbow, chuckling.

Kado shook his head and cracked a joke about the two of them flirting, with was met with cries of, "Hypocrit!" and the boys continued up a stream of light-hearted banter as they walked away, the streets of Tokyo beginning to glow as the neon lights slowly came to life, the sun creeping away into the distance.

* * *

"I swear to god, if one more person either sticks a camera in my face or asks me in that stupid voice how I'm doing, I WILL spontaneously combust."

Kata rolled her eyes.

"It's nice to know you're starting to sound like your normal self." She teased.

Rin huffed. It had taken longer then she expected to get out of hospital, much to her chagrin, and to make matters worse, her collapsing had attracted an unexpected amount of media attention. She had managed to do a decent job of evading reporters (mostly by being chivvied along by security or Kata and throwing them the evil eye), but even so, it was beginning to take its toll.

"You'd think I did it for attention, they way they've been acting." Rin complained loudly, winding a ribbon from one of her flower gifts, the tip of her ring finger slowly turning mauve at the tip. "Christ, it's not like I _enjoy_having to carry around a stupid inhaler and get all dizzy and shit."

"I know, sweetie." Kata said, soothingly, deciding it would be best to humor Rin and not provoke her into a further funk.

The truth was, though, although Kura had gone to Tokyo straight away after she heard about Rin's accident, Rin had no apparent recollection of it, which made sense as she fell asleep within about ten minutes. However, this meant that Kura's news had taken yet another rain check, and Kata knew that the longer Kura kept it to herself, the more Rin would resent her for it later.

"Where's Yukiko, anyways?" Rin asked abruptly (her finger had now gone an alarming shade of violet) "It's quiet in here without her yammering on or watching the Bimbo on TV."

"Actually, she's playing with a friend." Kata told Rin, keeping it deliberately vague.

"Oh yeah? What, do they have joint Bimbo-watching sessions?" Rin snorted. "Great, she'll start watching even more awful TV because her equally annoying friends watch it. I bet they all think she's actually _talented _or something."

"Well, Chisachi seems quite mature, so who knows, maybe she'll be a good influence." Kata said, smirking as she waited for the explosion.

She wasn't disappointed.

"WHAT?!" Rin yelled, finally letting go of her ribbon tourniquet and leaping up. "My sister is hanging out with CHISACHI AKIYAMA?!"

"As far as I'm aware." Kata replied, calmly.

"She is NOT to spend time with her!" Rin ranted, sounding alarmingly like a disapproving parent. "Jeez! Why did you wait so long to tell me? What, it couldn't come until _before_I got a concussion?"

The words, although said rather melodramatically, halted Kata's amusement in its tracks. Sighing as Rin continued ranting on; Kata bit her lip, unusually nervous.

"Rin, there's something I-"

But, like the world was conspiring for Kata to remain an accomplice for a little while longer, the doorbell rang.

"I don't care if I get in trouble, if it's _another_reporter; I'm punching him in the face." Rin announced, stomping towards the front door and flinging it open. "What?!"

"Is that any way to greet your best friends?" Sorako said, rolling her eyes.

"Sorako? Shirushi?" Rin blinked, staring at them. "What're you doing here at this time?"

"Visiting you, duh." Sorako replied, kicking off her ballet pumps and stepping over the threshold.

"You're looking well, Rin." Greeted Shirushi, carefully sliding off her jacket.

"Pfft. I guess."

Rin closed the door and directed her friends towards her room, leaving Kata alone with her thoughts. Rin flopped onto her bed with a sigh – she was still a bit low on energy at the moment.

"Kasuga and Mitsuru wanted to come, but we thought it might be easier on you if you didn't have too many people around." Shirushi told Rin. Sorako, who had sat herself in at Rin's desk, snorted, flipping a novelty pencil between her fingers.

"She's getting awfully buddy-buddy with us, isn't she?" Sorako asked. "I mean, we've only just started talking to her, you'd think she wouldn't be so desperate to hang around with us."

Rin smirked in Sorako's direction.

"What, are you jealous?" Rin asked her. "Do you feel threatened you're not the new friend of the group or something?"

Sorako huffed indignantly.

"Jealous of Kasuga Kimuya? Please, tell me that's just a head trauma-induced joke!"

"Sorako." Shirushi chided.

"Wait, did you say Mitsuru? Why would she want to come here?" Rin asked, after flipping Sorako the bird.

"She was really upset." Sorako said. "You know, after you fainted. She was crying and everything. They had to give her a mild sedative just so she'd calm down."

"Why? It's not like it's her fault I had asthma." Rin pointed out, baffled. "Besides, she doesn't even know me."

There was a small silence as the girls considered this.

"It came as a shock, I think." Shirushi volunteered after a few moments. "Normally, you seem so...well..."

"Obnoxious?" Rin asked, idly, and Sorako giggled.

"Hm. The word would probably be tough, I suppose. Nobody even realized you were having an attack until it was too late."

Rin avoided eye contact for a moment, feeling a bit ashamed of such a display of weakness, not to mention the fact that the idea of her plummeting down towards the Layer made her feel a little odd, like she was made out of something breakable.

"We didn't even know you _had_asthma." Sorako added, pointedly. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Hey, it's private, alright?" Rin snapped. "Anyway, it's not a big deal; I just was stupid and tried ignoring the warning signs. It's not like it dictates my whole existence or anything. Anyway, Sorako, don't forget who you used to hang out with, I wasn't just going to sit down with you and say, 'Hey, guess what, I have weak lungs!'"

Sorako blushed a bit.

"Speaking of which..."

"Huh? You have a weak kidney or something?"

"No, you idiot. But...well, because you and Mitsuru's match got cancelled-"

"Hey!" Rin burst out, making her two friends jump. "Fuck, I just realized, I lost! Have I been kicked out of the Tournament now? Is that what you two are trying to tell me?"

"No, no, the match just got declared void! It's not like you forfeited willingly or had any control over what happened." Sorako said quickly. "Both you and Mitsuru are still in, you've just been moved a bit to accommodate."

Rin nodded, settling back down against the cushions. The relief that was spreading through her confused her – for a second there, thinking she was out of the Regionals, made a bolt of pure panic shoot down her spine. Sure, she had her own reasons for wanting to win this stupid Tournament, but she hadn't expected to take the news with such...emotion. But Rin being Rin, she quickly brushed aside these errant thoughts, hoping they would stay away until she was actually willing to consider it.

"Okay, gotcha. Go on."

"Well, anyway...they're keeping the roster under wraps so far, want to make it a bit more exciting for everyone and stop the Deus' from learning too much about each other yet to keep it interesting. But it turns out my match is up next and, well, I'm against Reiko."

Another silence fell, as Rin sat there in apparent shock.

"She's in the Regionals? How did she even get in when she cheated last time?"

"She got a warning, but that's it." Shirushi explained.

"What about Tanaruchi and that red-haired chick?" Rin asked quickly- although she had had more pressing things to think about, she had not forgotten her overdue confrontation with Kohaku, and if she could meet her in the Layer, she could _really_get even.

"No," Sorako said, and Rin's revenge scheme was instantly shattered. "Neither of them made the cut, but Aimi's never really been into the competitive side of it anyway. She and Reiko had a huge fight about it, apparently."

Rin snorted.

"Losing friends pretty quickly, isn't she? Well, I guess if you're up against Bitchface, you've definitely passed the final friendship test, Sorako. I'm kind of surprised Reiko didn't try clawing your eyes out at Mitsuru's party."

"She was too busy with you."

"That sounds dirty..." Rin mused.

"Yes, well, I suppose a dramatic match was inevitable, given this is Regionals and given the first one." Shirushi remarked, with a slight smile.

"Okay, I get it, I faint, it's a huge deal, teeheehee. Can we move on please?" Rin sniped.  
Sorako rolled her eyes.

"I'd asked you if you're always this cranky, but I think I already know the answer."

Rin hit her with a pillow.

"Shut up!"

Later, after her friends departed and Kata made the two of them dinner (Yukiko was having a sleepover, apparently, which had been met with Rin pretending to shove her fingers down her throat.) Rin found herself feeling considerably better, better then she'd felt in a couple of weeks.

When she went to her room for the night, though, she sat down to play some game when her computer informed her she had an email. The subject simply read _N/A._

The sender?

Tokudaiji Eiri.

* * *

Incidentally, it's annoying people who don't label emails. I mean, it's okay if you only do it SOMETIMES, but it's irritating if it's all the time. XD Can you guess who Makoto wants to ask out? I think some of you might be surprised. :P (And some of you may see it coming a mile, but I can dream, right?)

Also, there are no fights in this chapter. This is mostly because of Rin's head injury, but I'm curious to know who you guys think will fight/want to see fight. And I don't just mean Rin, supporting and minor characters too! I have three future fights DEFINITELY going to happen, but as for my other ideas, we'll have to see. :D I'll try to be more punctual in future.

Thanks for reading!


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